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CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the doc series “Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose,” about the rise and bitter fall of the major league legend, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, only to be banned from the sport because of gambling. Streaming on MAX and on HBO since July 24th.
JIM reviews film "THE ECLIPSE"
Submitted by jimchudnow@sbcg... on March 30, 2010 - 1:02am
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The Eclipse
MY Rating: 6.5 of 10 stars (based on an advance screening of the 88-minute film).
It Isn’t just the “moon or sun” that are OBSCURE here!…
It’s an exciting time in Cobh, Ireland: plans are underway for the annual Literary Festival!… Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) is a frustrated clandestine author who’s working to help out at the Fest by agreeing to give car rides to various of the visiting Writers, including Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn, in an unusual type role for him) & Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle)…
… But Ciarán has a bunch of problems to contend with: he himself has become a widower (tho exactly what caused the death of his wife Eleanore is somewhat unclear), and he must care for his 14-year old daughter (Hannah Lynch) & 11-year-old son (Eanna Hardwicke) by himself….
… Actually, Hannah at times seem to try to care for Ciarán, since she sees he’s periodically troubled— tho we’re not sure if she understands it’s partly because he thinks he’s seeing GHOSTS at times… He seems very upset whenever he visits his increasingly-ill father-in-law Malachy (Jim Norton) in a nursing type home…
… As the story meanders, Ciarán eventually picks up Aidan— who turns out to be a very UNPLEASANT married guy who’s “secretly” lusting after Iben who apparently knows him from some past encounters… In time, Ciarán himself seems to grow fond of Iben…
… Will Ciarán eventually realize just WHAT seems to be “threatening” him (with images often involving dying & death)?… Will anything “happen” between him & Iben?… Will his KIDS turn out to be OK?…
… While the acting is “decent”, the often-maddening thing about this film is, almost NOTHING is clearly “RESOLVED”, despite the numerous “branches” that are set up… There is a definite “moodiness” (with scary hands regularly reaching “up” to try to grab Ciarán & the like), but it’s not particularly effective…
… Friends who saw this with me kept talking about how “slow-moving” & often BORING it was (to the point that one friend seemed to fall asleep during it)… I kept waiting for something “definitive” to happen… I’m STILL “waiting”!…
