Here's one that we didn't much like. Director/writer Miranda July's sophomore feature opens with her croaky voiceover from a wounded cat waiting to be adopted by dysfunctional couple Sophie (July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) and their lives get weirder from there. Her feature debut, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), was pretty good and won piles of awards. July (née Grossinger, and there's a story behind each name) puts herself out there, which I respect, and has worked as a performance artist, which is evident in some scenes. Jack and I don't mind quirky, but this is a little annoying, I'm sorry to report, despite its nomination for a major award at the Berlin Film Festival. I know how difficult it is for women to make their own movies but I just didn't care about the people (or the cat), nor did I find the story amusing. I do like Linklater, who starred as the brother in The New Adventures of the Old Christine, and here plays the same kind of smart, worried nebbish.
July met fellow director Mike Mills (Beginners) in 2005 when both of their debut pictures were featured at Sundance, and they've been married for two years now. So maybe they'll do something good together in "the future."
Composer Jon Brion (Hard Eight (1996), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Synechdoche, New York, The Other Guys, more) provides the music, but I honestly don't remember it, as we saw this maybe 6-8 weeks ago. Watching the trailer again, I see elements that I like, way better than I recall, so maybe you should give it 91 minutes of your life after it's released on DVD.
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