The supporting cast was brilliant and begged for more of the story. The performances of the son and brother grounded the film firmly to the soil of that farm and family. The unsentimentalized, caring Manuela was another outstanding performance. And finally the effervescent Gene stole every scene she was in. The brilliant supporting cast raised the movie up to greatness.
Would that the film consisted of these performances and that the paraplegic was offstage like the madwoman in the attic, because the film became flat and plodding when Ramon and his lawyer, Julia, were on screen. The soundtrack was calculated to be heart wrenching in an extremely heavy handed way, manipulating the viewer's emotions in ways that didn't fit with the content of the scene itself.
***** Spoiler to follow ****
Finally the film sank entirely in the final scene when we go with Gene to visit Julia. The filmmaker shows us the profoundly disabled woman she has now become It is almost as if this is her comeuppance for her failure of nerve? principal? in letting down our hero and not going through with their agreed upon plan. I found that scene to be gratuitous. We know that Julia had a degenerative disease. We know that she changed her mind (but not the reason, a disarmingly light touch in a didactic story) when we see her on the beach with her husband and see that the book has been shipped to Ramon. Here the directing was ham-fisted about the ramifications of not choosing euthanasia with the added touch of seeing the achingly beautiful Julia laid low.
Would that the film consisted of these performances and that the paraplegic was offstage like the madwoman in the attic, because the film became flat and plodding when Ramon and his lawyer, Julia, were on screen. The soundtrack was calculated to be heart wrenching in an extremely heavy handed way, manipulating the viewer's emotions in ways that didn't fit with the content of the scene itself.
***** Spoiler to follow ****
Finally the film sank entirely in the final scene when we go with Gene to visit Julia. The filmmaker shows us the profoundly disabled woman she has now become It is almost as if this is her comeuppance for her failure of nerve? principal? in letting down our hero and not going through with their agreed upon plan. I found that scene to be gratuitous. We know that Julia had a degenerative disease. We know that she changed her mind (but not the reason, a disarmingly light touch in a didactic story) when we see her on the beach with her husband and see that the book has been shipped to Ramon. Here the directing was ham-fisted about the ramifications of not choosing euthanasia with the added touch of seeing the achingly beautiful Julia laid low.