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The Caller From LA looks at THE STORY OF US
A Caller From LA wrote in with a look at THE STORY OF US, a film with a damn good trailer that's currently out in theaters that really lit a fire under my ass to want to find out more about this one. If the word is true on THE SIXTH SENSE and THE STORY OF US... then if BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS works... then wow... what a year for the Bruce-meister. Well, we haven't heard too much on this film thus far, but here's the first look at a review for the movie.
Hey Harry,
After seeing a screening of DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (rentable) on Wednesday night in L.A., I
quickly spotted those damn NRG types. They didn't recognize me from my previous encounters, most
recently on the MYSTERY MEN (neat-o) test screening, so they gave me and my wife passes to a test
screening of THE STORY OF US (a gem).
Here's a breakdown. Very little in the way of spoilers. I don't give away the ending. The butler didn't do
it.
LOCATION: The movie takes place in and around Los Angeles. Pretty cool, since one scene was
filmed where I work near Angels' Flight, and another clearly showed my apartment in the background
on Wilshire (near the E! building). Some parts of Italy were beautifully filmed as well.
SUMMARY: A comedy/drama about how 2 people fall in and out of love over 15 years. If you want to
cry hard and laugh hard 10 times within a minute, then join this emotional rollercoaster. See it with an
audience and you'll be bonding with everyone as you guffaw at the funnies, say "Nooo. Stop. Don't do
it" when things go from happy-times to the depths, and sniffle when love just can't break through the
myriad of problems. I haven't cried this much since I last heard "Dad, wanna play a game of catch?"
(sniffle) from FIELD OF DREAMS.
PLOT: There’s one important point to keep in mind…this is not your usual plot driven movie, but a true
character development piece that is driven purely by the unfolding of the details of this couples lives
together, past and present. As the film opens, our beleaguered couple have been out of love for "72
hours, 7 days, 5 years, however you want to count it." They are staying together for the sake of their
2 young kids in the hope that they will rediscover their former flames for each other. There were
flashbacks continuously throughout the film, and it didn't detract from the pacing at all. Not only did it
NOT detract, but they flowed seamlessly from past to present and progressed the film forward by
giving true depth and understanding to the character’s development. I referred to the film as an
"emotional rollercoaster,” so I must add that about 2/3rds into the film, the editing / pacing got
turbo-charged. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, in the audience spent a POWERFUL 2 minutes in
montage as we see scenes from the couple's life, the 'Highs' and 'Lows', a birth, a funeral, a fight, a
possible affair, a quietness, a pet dies, the kids grow up, New Years' Eve, etc., etc. I want to see it
again, so I can time the entire scene and each clip, just to figure out what the magic of that particular
montage was. I am not familiar with any other films that tackle the problems of love 'wearing down'
over time as much as this plot focuses on it. I'm in my 20's, so I've never really looked for this type of
film before, either. This is a gem of a film. It is what it is, and doesn't try to be anything else. Much like
WAKING NED DIVINE in this respect.
CAST AND CREW: Michelle Pfeiffer took a huge, juicy bite out of this role. When I say the movie was
an emotional rollercoaster, it was REAL, you believed it, and Michelle sold it to us. If it weren't for the
cutesy "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY"-Rob Reiner (director) moments, I'd believe an Oscar nom was
on the way. This film won't hurt Bruce Willis' career either, as he makes his own breakdown / crying
scenes believable, just as if you might see your friend, Uncle, or Dad cry. However, Bruce gets a bit
silly sometimes, which seemed to be a little over the top for this character. I should also take time to
notice the supporting acting. Most of the supporting actors were comic relief. Rita Wilson got a bit
juicier role, and she even got a breakdown scene of her own, which helped to show that the troubles
of the main couple affected not only their lives, but their friends as well. And kudos to couple who
portrayed the "Kirbys", as they stole a bit of the film for themselves, proving that there are no small
roles. The direction was good...it didn't get in the way, but the real acclaim goes to the editors! The
editing and pacing was perfect... it should be considered a textbook example. Of course, it was the
writing that gave the editors something to work for, and I truly have to believe that this must have been
exactly what the author had envisioned. The soundtrack mostly consisted of one song in many
formats by ERIC CLAPTON, who is GOD. The song was sad, angry, apologetic, and haunting, which
just made the perfect compliment to the film. I predict the song will be in the Top 5 sometime this year.
Since this was only a test screening, I really hope that they don’t tamper with the soundtrack. It gives
the film the feel of the old movies that had one theme pervading throughout the entire movie
CONCLUSION: As far as box office goes, the movie won't get the teenage crowd, and it won't get the
testosterone-types, so it depends on what it's opening up against. But this film is a “must see.” I plan
to highly suggest it to everyone I know. It will truly move you.
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+ Expand All
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This smells fake...oh, yeah, in a big way.
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Saw the same movie at a screening last week--nothing like watching 90 minutes of domestic misery to brighten an evening. Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis had nothing more to do than shriek profanities at each other, and Pfeiffer's character was so underwritten that it was hard to feel real sympathy for her at all. In fact, she spent most of the movie whining about her husband's "childish" flaws, yet the script failed to show any evidence of said flaws. Meanwhile, the comic relief that was provided by their friends (Reiser, Wilson, Reiner, etc.) was extremely reminiscent of "When Harry Met Sally" ... except it was done about half as well. Not to worry though, because after each "light" moment the script reverts back to Pfeiffer being shrill about some minutiae such as windshield wiper fluid, while Bruce Willis stands there and takes her rants with a kind of bovine expression on his face.
And while I'm nitpicking, I'm just wondering why movie studios can't find better hairpieces for balding leading men when the script calls for a flashback. While Willis' hairpiece wasn't quite as bad as Kevin Spacey's in "Ordinary Decent Criminal", the screening audience actually laughed out loud the first few times his bad toupee showed up on screen.
Just some thoughts ... (The Clapton song was pretty good, though.) -
"Two for the Road" (1967) starred the amazing Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney and cataloged a couple's relationship over a period close to 15 years. They fall in love, get married, then later fall out of love, and in the end find each other again. The film is edited from a handful of situations they are in through the years, and edited together to heighten the drama of the disparity between high and low points. Sounds similar to me.
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I saw a screening of this film a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't agree more with Homer7G. Bruce Willis' performance is laughable. And enough already with Michelle Pfeiffer playing roles where she's just miserable all the time. There's so much screaming and arguing in this movie it made my head hurt. This is Rob Reiner's attempt to make When Harry Met Sally 15 years later, when the relationship has soured and they don't really like each other anymore. I'm sorry, but don't mess with a good thing. He's trying very hard to be serious, edgy, and adult, with some one-liners thrown in for good measure. Maybe if I was an unhappily married 45 year old I would have really enjoyed this movie...
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Last month, I was saying my prayers.
"God, bless mom, and dad, and gramma, and let there be world peace. And please God, send us a saccrhine romantic comedy. Twenty or so a year just isn't enough. Please God, let this be the year where movie audiences have to think about what they're seeing as little as possible."
My prayers have been answered!
Agnostic no more,
Tom Coombe
PS- Clapton WAS God. He should have stayed on drugs. -
1st of all i believe the title of this movie is THE JOY OF US
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1st of all i believe the title of this movie is THE JOY OF US i thought the best thing in the movie was Rob Reiner and an uncredited Paul Reiser this is one of those movies that is very serious in parts and then is very funny a second later. although i did like it ,sometimes it depressed me showing how bad a marriage can be. i dont think i wanna get married after seeing this one.
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Hey, gang, I just came from a preview screening of Mystery Men and came away VERY pleasantly surprised. It was a lot of fun. MM sends up the pretension and absurdity of the superhero movie genre similar to what Austin Powers does to the spy film -- but with better writing, snappier dialogue and minus the inflated ego of a singular star. Hell, I'd love to see a sequel to this, and you can definitely see the possibilities for this after the movie ends: A MM2 could send-up both the League of Justice cartoon and Bryan Singer's upcoming X-Men. Along with the Matrix, this is the only other movie this year that I want to see a sequel to (and I often detest sequels). But I'm afraid I won't see this happen since Universal, as of late, appears to be inept at marketing their good films (Babe: Pig in the City being one example). If MM were to succeed at the box office, it would raise the bar on the quality expected by the audience for "serious" superhero movies (including X-Men), and this is something that is sorely needed. Just when I thought the summer genre flick was dead, MM managed to wipe away the trauma that WWW inflicted upon my movie lover's psyche. As for the story, basically, the whole movie is like a live-action version of The Tick crossed with the Seven Samurai. And, even though this is a parody, William H. Macy's hero/character, The Shoveler, is the coolest superhero of the bunch, followed closely by Janeane Garofalo's The Bowler. Ben Stiller's character kinda struck me as a cross between The Punisher (minus the guns) and the caricature he does of Bruce Springsteen. Surprisingly, he and Macy have pretty good on-screen chemistry together. Shit, even Greg Kinnear was pretty good. I'm going to be really disappointed when MM tanks at the box office (which I'm afraid it will).
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