I might be the first to start my review by praising Jenna Malone. Her character, 12-year-old Anna, is annoying and it's highly realistic. Her parents divorced, her Dad has a new girlfriend (fiancé), she's splitting her time between homes and, on top of that, middle school boys are jerks! She's a really fine actress. She's had a good enough career, but I can't help thinking that if she were conventionally beautiful and looked like Margot Robbie, she'd have been a star. That's Hollywood.
As for Roberts and Sarandon, they are good too. I think JR was a bit over-hyped at her zenith, but she is a very strong actress and she holds her one against Sarandon. Ed Harris is likable but he's just kind of there. Which is part of the problem.
We don't really know what led to the end of the marriage between Harris and Sarandon (Jackie), but it's pretty clear that he was the one who wanted to leave. I can't blame her for being salty about it. That said, he didn't have an affair with Robert's character, Isobel. They met after the divorce. She didn't ruin Jackie's marriage and she's not a cheater.
So on whom does Jackie vent her spleen? Isobel. She berates her for not knowing how to take care of kids as well as she does (not surprising given Isobel has never had any and is focused on her career). She tries to balance work and the kids, but she makes mistakes and Jackie is unforgiving. Jackie even makes fun of Isobel's teeth. It's not helpful and it sets a bad example for her kids, especially her daughter (Malone).
To Isobel's credit, she tries to connect in the ways she knows best: by being a friend. She asks to take Anna to a concert (Jackie says no, naturally). She even ingeniously helps out Anna with the aforementioned awful middle school boy by offering some choice put-downs and loaning her a studly young model friend to put the twerp in his place. I actually cheered at this part. I was a girl that age once.
Meanwhile, the father stays out of the drama. Even the younger child, son Ben (the boy!), stays out of the drama. So we basically get a movie that pits two women against each other and adds a future woman into the mix.....until it doesn't. Cue the hankies.
Like I said, the film is well acted and effective in many ways. There is some nice scenery and NYC settings, a lovely country home and a cool loft, good costumes, and horses. I just feel like there was too much time spent on the (mostly one-sided) conflict between Jackie and Isobel, two women who in fact have not wronged each other and don't need to be at war.
I don't think this movie would be made today, at least not in the way it was in the late 90s. And that's a good thing. It definitely passes the Bechtel Test, but not in a great way.
As for Roberts and Sarandon, they are good too. I think JR was a bit over-hyped at her zenith, but she is a very strong actress and she holds her one against Sarandon. Ed Harris is likable but he's just kind of there. Which is part of the problem.
We don't really know what led to the end of the marriage between Harris and Sarandon (Jackie), but it's pretty clear that he was the one who wanted to leave. I can't blame her for being salty about it. That said, he didn't have an affair with Robert's character, Isobel. They met after the divorce. She didn't ruin Jackie's marriage and she's not a cheater.
So on whom does Jackie vent her spleen? Isobel. She berates her for not knowing how to take care of kids as well as she does (not surprising given Isobel has never had any and is focused on her career). She tries to balance work and the kids, but she makes mistakes and Jackie is unforgiving. Jackie even makes fun of Isobel's teeth. It's not helpful and it sets a bad example for her kids, especially her daughter (Malone).
To Isobel's credit, she tries to connect in the ways she knows best: by being a friend. She asks to take Anna to a concert (Jackie says no, naturally). She even ingeniously helps out Anna with the aforementioned awful middle school boy by offering some choice put-downs and loaning her a studly young model friend to put the twerp in his place. I actually cheered at this part. I was a girl that age once.
Meanwhile, the father stays out of the drama. Even the younger child, son Ben (the boy!), stays out of the drama. So we basically get a movie that pits two women against each other and adds a future woman into the mix.....until it doesn't. Cue the hankies.
Like I said, the film is well acted and effective in many ways. There is some nice scenery and NYC settings, a lovely country home and a cool loft, good costumes, and horses. I just feel like there was too much time spent on the (mostly one-sided) conflict between Jackie and Isobel, two women who in fact have not wronged each other and don't need to be at war.
I don't think this movie would be made today, at least not in the way it was in the late 90s. And that's a good thing. It definitely passes the Bechtel Test, but not in a great way.