Evening

ALMOST WORTH IT: I know, that doesn't really count as a grade on my scale, but I cannot decide, so there it lies. This movie is a roller coaster for my opinion. It began slowly and aimlessly, offering big names for poor script. What attempts to be a dreamy flashback for a deathbed Vanessa Redgrave is a stream of disconnected emotion and storyline, barely holding my attention, and even more barely touching my emotions. Fortunately, somewhere along the dreamweave, I was caught. A mystical and rebellious Claire Danes and a sweet and blubbery Mamie Gummert merged into the Redgrave/Streep miracle and I found myself weeping before the credits rolled. I am not sure where I got caught or how, but the story grabbed me, twisted my heart in it's plot, and sufficed my satisfaction for the time spent on the first half. The scenery mixed with sound and music carries you away each time, through years of rain and pain to the cliffs and rolling waves found on the peaceful beachy nook in which the flashbacks take place. Although the present-day story does little for most of the movie, by the end, it reaches a place of identification, both for the characters and the audience to reckon with. Understandings evolve for both sides, and the story becomes a pleasant one; foggy, but pleasant. It is to the Tee a girl's movie, perfect for mother/daughter outings, the need for a good cry, and the picture of every little girl's dream for romance and secrecy. For those of us wishing to see intellect and true mystification through the story, it may lag. Sit through it until the end though, and give it your open mind, because if you can stay focused at least half-way through, it will surprise you, and you'll leave teary, touched, and not completely at a loss for $10.