True — this is a minor film by John Sayles, but it is still absolutely remarkable. Let’s not call it a one act or a short story, let’s call it focused. First of all, it is fantastic to see Lili Taylor again. The last thing I saw her in (that I actually remember her being in) was the God awful Ransom with Mel Gibson. Anyway, she’s terrific. And so is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has a scene early on talking with her husband on a cell phone. This is a sixty second scene that should be studied in film acting classes. The script is all very basic, plain, nondescript dialogue, yet Gyllenhaal basically runs through every emotion in the dictionary before the conversation is over, showing this with her eyes yet desperately tries to hide this with her voice. It is staggering. A reviewer on imdb put it nicely when he said that Sayles gives himself a setup so rich with possibilities that he’d either have to make a 100 hour film or do what he did here, cut it loose and give you the 90 minute slice-of-life we have before us. First rule of show biz: always leave ’em wanting more.
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Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.