When Julia Brendler lives through a crisis, her mother Alberta Watson doesn't know how else to handle her except to travel with her to a remote Irish island. They won't be surrounded by anyone they know, or by any reminders. Julia has enormous attitude and acts like she can't stand her mother. She runs around the island aimlessly until she wanders into Lynn Redgrave's cabin. Lynn is a crusty recluse writing a book, and Julia is hooked on the few pages she comes across. Cue the story-within-the-story: Lynn tells Julia of the story's folklore legend, and the film transitions to Kirsten Dunst and her tale.
It sounds like a great movie, especially for girls who are nursing a broken heart and need to feel like they're not alone (except when their mothers try to comfort them, that is). However, it felt like more of a television release than a big screen picture. Teenagers might like it, but adult audiences will probably find it lacking. First, there's the elephant in the room: the obviousness of the plot. There are supposed to be two big surprise twists near the end, but both are guessable in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. The second elephant. . . My beloved Kirsten Dunst. Although Lynn Redgrave clearly has an Irish accent, Kirsten, the object of her folklore story, speaks half the time in her normal voice and half in the strangest Southern accent I've ever heard. Why wasn't another actress cast who could put on (or authentically speak in) an Irish accent? Or, why wasn't Kirsten instructed to just speak in a British accent? She's done that capably in other movies. It was distracting and, frankly, lousy. If you're grieving a broken heart and need some movie comforts, you could do worse, but if you're in a good space, you might want to just stick with Bring It On.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Most of the footage in Julia Brendler's flashbacks are filmed with a handheld camera, and in the flashback 10 minutes before the end of the movie, the camera rotates upside down, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"
It sounds like a great movie, especially for girls who are nursing a broken heart and need to feel like they're not alone (except when their mothers try to comfort them, that is). However, it felt like more of a television release than a big screen picture. Teenagers might like it, but adult audiences will probably find it lacking. First, there's the elephant in the room: the obviousness of the plot. There are supposed to be two big surprise twists near the end, but both are guessable in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. The second elephant. . . My beloved Kirsten Dunst. Although Lynn Redgrave clearly has an Irish accent, Kirsten, the object of her folklore story, speaks half the time in her normal voice and half in the strangest Southern accent I've ever heard. Why wasn't another actress cast who could put on (or authentically speak in) an Irish accent? Or, why wasn't Kirsten instructed to just speak in a British accent? She's done that capably in other movies. It was distracting and, frankly, lousy. If you're grieving a broken heart and need some movie comforts, you could do worse, but if you're in a good space, you might want to just stick with Bring It On.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. Most of the footage in Julia Brendler's flashbacks are filmed with a handheld camera, and in the flashback 10 minutes before the end of the movie, the camera rotates upside down, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"