I recently saw The Architect at one of the Blu-Ray screenings they conducted (fanastic visual quality, by the way). I wasn't floored by the film, but I was impressed.
Before I saw it, I had little idea what it was about, even when I consulted IMDb. I'm not sure I could describe everything about the movie perfectly, especially without spoilers, but here goes.
Anthony LaPaglia, with his usual gravitas, plays Chicago Architect Leo Waters. Leo's family life is far from perfect, with son Martin recently leaving school, daughter Christina struggling to balance her sexuality and innocence, and wife Julia on the verge of snapping with a compulsion for cleanliness.
Meanwhile, Tonya Neeley (Viola Davis) is a community activist who lives in one of Leo's creations, a public housing project on Chicago's south side. She is attempting to get the projects torn down in a struggle to find meaning after her son dies. Her daughter is living with more affluent friends and Viola is forced to deal with the gangs and sense of emptiness surrounding the site. She attempts to enlist Leo to help her get the project demolished.
If I wanted to be pretentious, I'd suggest the symbolism between the decaying housing complex the meticulous Leo arrogantly refuses to even visit, and his decaying family life. In any case, this movie brought to mind several other movies about struggling families in this vein: The Ice Storm, American Beauty, and The Virgin Suicides. Fans of those films will probably enjoy this little film, even without any publicity to support it. Great acting all around.
Before I saw it, I had little idea what it was about, even when I consulted IMDb. I'm not sure I could describe everything about the movie perfectly, especially without spoilers, but here goes.
Anthony LaPaglia, with his usual gravitas, plays Chicago Architect Leo Waters. Leo's family life is far from perfect, with son Martin recently leaving school, daughter Christina struggling to balance her sexuality and innocence, and wife Julia on the verge of snapping with a compulsion for cleanliness.
Meanwhile, Tonya Neeley (Viola Davis) is a community activist who lives in one of Leo's creations, a public housing project on Chicago's south side. She is attempting to get the projects torn down in a struggle to find meaning after her son dies. Her daughter is living with more affluent friends and Viola is forced to deal with the gangs and sense of emptiness surrounding the site. She attempts to enlist Leo to help her get the project demolished.
If I wanted to be pretentious, I'd suggest the symbolism between the decaying housing complex the meticulous Leo arrogantly refuses to even visit, and his decaying family life. In any case, this movie brought to mind several other movies about struggling families in this vein: The Ice Storm, American Beauty, and The Virgin Suicides. Fans of those films will probably enjoy this little film, even without any publicity to support it. Great acting all around.