'THIRD PERSON': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Paul Haggis wrote and directed this dark drama flick about three interlocking love stories; reminiscent to the storytelling style he used in the award winning 2005 film 'CRASH'. The stories revolve around a writer and his mistress, a mother who was accused of abusing her child and an American who falls for a Romanian woman, while taking a business trip in Italy. The all-star cast includes Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Loan Chabanol, Maria Bello and Kim Basinger. I found the story to be a little too dark and underdeveloped but still interesting enough.
Neeson plays Michael, a writer who lives in Paris and recently left his wife, Elaine (Basinger), for another woman, named Anna (Wilde). Kunis plays Julia, a mother in New York who was recently accused of trying to kill her son. Franco plays her ex, Rick, who is trying to keep custody of their child away from Julia (due to the accusation). Brody plays Scott, an American businessman traveling in Italy who falls for a Romanian beauty, named Monika (Atias). Monika's daughter was kidnapped by a Russian gangster, named Marco (Riccardo Scamarcio), and Scott tries to help Monika get her back.
The stories all deal with a common theme of children and poor parenting (in some way). They don't all really intersect (some do briefly) but there is a nice twist at the end that helps explain why they're all related. A lot of the details of the film, and the ending, are very vague and some of the characters are pretty underdeveloped. It's definitely not nearly as well made as 'CRASH', or some of Haggis's other movies, but it is interesting and entertaining (especially for a film that's 2 hours and 17 minutes long). The performances are all decent and Chabanol and Atias are both breathtaking to watch. It's a flawed movie but still a good one.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/ZEmam3XwQxw
Paul Haggis wrote and directed this dark drama flick about three interlocking love stories; reminiscent to the storytelling style he used in the award winning 2005 film 'CRASH'. The stories revolve around a writer and his mistress, a mother who was accused of abusing her child and an American who falls for a Romanian woman, while taking a business trip in Italy. The all-star cast includes Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Loan Chabanol, Maria Bello and Kim Basinger. I found the story to be a little too dark and underdeveloped but still interesting enough.
Neeson plays Michael, a writer who lives in Paris and recently left his wife, Elaine (Basinger), for another woman, named Anna (Wilde). Kunis plays Julia, a mother in New York who was recently accused of trying to kill her son. Franco plays her ex, Rick, who is trying to keep custody of their child away from Julia (due to the accusation). Brody plays Scott, an American businessman traveling in Italy who falls for a Romanian beauty, named Monika (Atias). Monika's daughter was kidnapped by a Russian gangster, named Marco (Riccardo Scamarcio), and Scott tries to help Monika get her back.
The stories all deal with a common theme of children and poor parenting (in some way). They don't all really intersect (some do briefly) but there is a nice twist at the end that helps explain why they're all related. A lot of the details of the film, and the ending, are very vague and some of the characters are pretty underdeveloped. It's definitely not nearly as well made as 'CRASH', or some of Haggis's other movies, but it is interesting and entertaining (especially for a film that's 2 hours and 17 minutes long). The performances are all decent and Chabanol and Atias are both breathtaking to watch. It's a flawed movie but still a good one.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/ZEmam3XwQxw