Movie-Evening

Evening has a great cast, with Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Colette, Natasha Richardson, the lovely Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy in starring roles. Also Meryl Streep and Glenn Close both have small supporting roles.

As great as the cast is, I did not think the movie lived up to it. On the other hand, my wife thought it was great. The movie centers on Collette and Richardson as sisters who have come home to be with their mother, Redgrave, as she is dieing. They act as sisters, getting pissy with one another, but really do love each other. The back story is told in their mother's mind, a tale of her youth, and mistakes she thought she made.

Danes plays the younger Ann, to Redgrave's elder Ann. And the mistake involves one weekend of a family wedding. The current story and back story are inter cut, and somehow it just did not work so well for me. However, the acting is quite good, especially in the back story.

Look for Mamie Gunner to play a younger version of Meryl Streep's character (or vice versa). I was amazed that the casting was so well done, as the two looked so much alike. I found the reason for that in the extras, that Gunner is Streep's daughter. So in this movie, there are two mother daughter teams, Redgrave and Richardson and Streep and Gunner. Also, the scene between Streep and Redgrave are great, two pros doing it well.

One more note. Hugh Dancy. I had never heard of him, and all of a sudden he has been in three very recent movies, Jane Austen Book Club, Beyond the Gates, and this. Very strange coincidence that my wife likes, because he has quickly made her top 5 list.

Claire Danes still is one of my favorites and always seems authentic to me. Doesn't hurt that she reminds me of one of my friends...except my friend is cuter!

A decent film, but with that cast should have been better.