Justin Kirk

The shift from bright comedy to rather grim drama is gradual enough to carry the audience along, but it's rather startling to end up somewhere so serious after such a cheeky start. Director Anna Mastro and writer Paul Shoulberg set this up as a breezy coming-of-age movie before adding a supernatural twist and quietly moving the goal posts. Fortunately, the strong cast and assured filmmaking carry the audience along. So even if it ultimately begins to feel melodramatic, it's also surprisingly moving and meaningful.

Convinced that he has been called by God to decide who goes to heaven and hell, 18-year-old Walter (Andrew J. West) is a perfectionist who maintains order in his life both at home with his over-concerned mother Karen (Virginia Madsen) and at his job taking tickets in the local multiplex. At work, he has his eye on the smart-sexy Kendall (Levin Rambin), but is too shy to speak to her and is teased mercilessly about this by bullying colleague Vince (Milo Ventimiglia). Then a ghost named Greg (Justin Kirk) starts taunting him as well, and Walter finally agrees to see a shrink (William H. Macy) in the hopes of restoring order to his life.

Of course, the point is that Walter doesn't need order: he needs to face up to the truth about the death of his father (Peter Facinelli in flashbacks). But the more he acknowledges, the more his life seems to unravel around him. This is played beautifully by West, a likeable actor who manages to get even more engaging as Walter falls apart. His interaction with the rest of the cast is pointed and witty, packed with knowing commentary and some sharply funny observations. And all of the actors around him bring layers of emotion and energy to the film.

Continue reading: Walter Review

Complex emotions and a gentle exploration of interpersonal connections make this Paris-set drama worth a look, especially since it's so nicely played by the eclectic cast. German filmmaker Sandra Nettlelbeck (Mostly Martha) lets the story unfold slowly and steadily, getting deep under the skin of the characters in the process. The draggy pace sometimes makes the two-hour running time feel very long indeed, but it lets the cast to take the time to create rich, detailed connections that are easy to identify with.

It's been three years since Matthew Morgan (Michael Caine) buried his wife Joan (Jane Alexander) in a cemetery in Paris, their chosen home. Now he imagines her everywhere he goes, feeling her absence all the time until he runs into the young dance instructor Pauline (Clemence Poesy). Not only does she remind him of Joan, but he fills a gap left in her life after her father died. So the two begin an offbeat friendship that feels more like family than anything else. Even so, Matthew's loneliness sparks a visit from his son Miles (Justin Kirk) and daughter Karen (Gillian Anderson), who's too busy to stay for very long. They of course don't trust Pauline. And as she witnesses Matthew's interaction with them, she begins to understand that he has never related to them as a father.

While the premise sets things up for a whole lot of healing and sentimentality, the script avoids this by remaining earthy and raw, digging deep into the characters without trying to explain everything they are doing or thinking. There certainly isn't a right way to mend the problems between Matthew and his children, although it's clear that a bit of openness and respect will go a long way. Caine plays this beautifully, with a spark of wry humour alongside Matthew's relentless pain. His scenes with Poesy have a delicate chemistry that is refreshingly difficult to fully understand, and yet it feels authentic. And when Miles enters their world, things shift in even more interesting directions.

Continue reading: Mr. Morgan's Last Love Review

Putting aside the absurdity of the scenario that a writer would abandon his craft based on a single rejection for his first major work, Chapter Zero ultimately reveals itself as a pleasant enough -- though ultimately trivial -- little comedy.

Continue reading: Chapter Zero Review

Part one, "Millennium Approaches" is full of ominous portents, plague and destruction, the rampant spread of AIDS in the chilly clime of '80s conservatism, while the second, "Perestroika" makes the political issues bandied about earlier in the film devastatingly personal. The story runs from 1985 to 1990 and takes in a broad sweep of characters, but not nearly as many as other writers would have packed in, simply to give a broader demographic sampling. Central to the film is Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), a 30-year-old AIDS sufferer whose boyfriend Louis (Ben Shenkman) leaves him in an astonishingly heartless manner, only to take up soon after with recently uncloseted U.S. attorney Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson). Left mostly to his own devices, with only his friend Belize (Jeffery Wright) to help, as Walter gets sicker, he begins to have visions of an angel (Emma Thompson, odd, arrogant and completely captivating), determined to make him a prophet, claiming that God has deserted the world and that humans are at fault.

Continue reading: Angels In America Review