Frankly, I know nothing of the people portrayed in this film. When I did look them up, I was pretty amazed at the ways they lived their lives, and how clean and sane this movie made them out to be.
That being said, it took me several tries to really finish this movie, because it just didn't grab me or hold me. Sure there's some catchy dialog, some witty barbs back and forth, but overall, it's not really a story about very much - everyone is unrequited, destroying themselves, and wallowing in it.
I'm one of the people that feels Courtney Love is a waste of space, and was quite surprised to find her in the movie. However, she looked clean, healthy and sane, and did a very good job with the acting. Her eyes were clear and shiny and when they removed the awful red lipstick she was passable as being the object of men's affections. In reading up on her character, however, I think the script fell short of portraying Joan as the Great Thinker that history has made her out to be. Joan comes across more as a stalwart supporter for her husband, both as an artist and a man, instead of an independent mind trapped in a woman in love. Her barbs and pointed exchanges with him are a sharp contrast to how she expresses their relationship to others during her trip with Lucien and Allen in Mexico. Essentially, what could have been shown as a brilliant mind in a tragic body was passed over in favor of some quotable lines and a love triangle.
The rest of the cast did quite well, and although I'm no great fan of Kiefer Sutherland's acting, he elicited compassion for Burroughs with a despairing quietness in the last half of the movie.
The scenery is beautiful, but the sound needs work. Frequently I found myself turning up the volume and rewinding to catch dialog, and the background noises fade out and in seemingly at random.
Overall I think the story could have been far more compelling with less love and more brains. If nothing else, it gave me some research subject to find the REAL story behind these figures.
That being said, it took me several tries to really finish this movie, because it just didn't grab me or hold me. Sure there's some catchy dialog, some witty barbs back and forth, but overall, it's not really a story about very much - everyone is unrequited, destroying themselves, and wallowing in it.
I'm one of the people that feels Courtney Love is a waste of space, and was quite surprised to find her in the movie. However, she looked clean, healthy and sane, and did a very good job with the acting. Her eyes were clear and shiny and when they removed the awful red lipstick she was passable as being the object of men's affections. In reading up on her character, however, I think the script fell short of portraying Joan as the Great Thinker that history has made her out to be. Joan comes across more as a stalwart supporter for her husband, both as an artist and a man, instead of an independent mind trapped in a woman in love. Her barbs and pointed exchanges with him are a sharp contrast to how she expresses their relationship to others during her trip with Lucien and Allen in Mexico. Essentially, what could have been shown as a brilliant mind in a tragic body was passed over in favor of some quotable lines and a love triangle.
The rest of the cast did quite well, and although I'm no great fan of Kiefer Sutherland's acting, he elicited compassion for Burroughs with a despairing quietness in the last half of the movie.
The scenery is beautiful, but the sound needs work. Frequently I found myself turning up the volume and rewinding to catch dialog, and the background noises fade out and in seemingly at random.
Overall I think the story could have been far more compelling with less love and more brains. If nothing else, it gave me some research subject to find the REAL story behind these figures.