I've been googling this film all over the internet to find a decent review and all I seem to come up with are reviews of the original book by Tom Perrotta, which are excellent. This film about a bunch of thoroughly boring to unlikeable characters, who meet each other along the way while living out their joyless, unfaithful and confused lives, came from nowhere and went nowhere for me. As a general screen plot, the concept of people who just happen to meet by chance has been done to death and much more entertaingly elsewhere. I couldn't find anything to like about this film, it taught me nothing and in general bored me to death, but I sat through it to the end because I paid for the rental. It was recommended to me by a couple of friends but I'm sorry to say the film just didn't work for me. This is one of those rare occasions when I'm going to go back and read the book to see how it became an acclaimed best-seller and when I have I'll come back and review it one day.
Oh sorry you didn't like it Giles. I really enjoyed it - to me it highlighted the belief I have that in marriage (or partnership) there needs to be communication otherwise the relationship is doomed. I guess that is common sense but it is often not put into practice.
I liked the movie and I thought the performances were excellent, especially by Jackie Earle Haley who played the sex offender. I thought Kate Winslet portrayed her character very well. Although I could not identify with her frustration as a unfulfilled mother, I could understand it through Kate's performance. The fact that the book club was reading Madame Bovary and that Kate's character was indeed a Madame Bovary herself, is just one of the nuances of this film that I liked. We know that Madame Bovary was truly dissatisfied with her life, and it eventually led her to affairs and a tragic ending. Sarah seeks that same stimulation as Madame Bovary, but in the end at least learns that what she almost has lost cannot be replaced by selfish indulgence.
So they both went for the easy gratification of having an affair with each other to alleviate their boredom/anger with their spouses. In the end the only one with any conscience in this was the paedophile.
Brief Encounter is one of my favourite films of all time, as is its spin-off, Falling in Love. The Bridges of Madison County was OK, a bit grim compared to the first two. The difference in the first two is that the protagonists showed self-discipline as opposed to shagging each other senseless at the first available opportunity. It was more interesting for me. Actually I can't imagine Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard even knowing sex existed, let alone havnig it. The only thing about Little Children that made it not an arty soft porn film was the paedophile.
You see with all of the movies mentioned, I see it beyond the sexual activity. I liked all of the movies mentioned, for the emotions that were depicted (right or wrong, moral or immoral). Celia cheated on her hubby emotionally in Brief Encounter, to me if the emotions are involved but there is no sexual encounter, that is the same as cheating in my eyes. So I guess your issue is whether the affairs are depicted in the films tastefully? Because you can't argue that Celia didn't cheat with Trevor-they did! And they were pretty damned close to consumating their passion in Trevor's borrowed apartment of his friend. So I guess shagging is okay as long as you wait for the appropriate time in the affair?
Celia cheated on her hubby emotionally in Brief Encounter, to me if the emotions are involved but there is no sexual encounter, that is the same as cheating in my eyes.
Yes, I agree with this statement. There is no harm in looking at an attractive man or woman but it is different when you are having these thoughts and feelings about them. It is still cheating on your partner; I can look at Denzel Washington and go "Hubba Hubba - oh yeah!!!" but there are no emotions and feelings involve in that - getting too repetitive Mazza, shut up now. The Autism is rubbing off on my Giles :)
Thanks too for your honesty and upfront feelings about this movie. I hadn't even heard of it??? I'm wondering if it was more of a movie for women versus men...
So I guess shagging is okay as long as you wait for the appropriate time in the affair?
No, I think ideally one should finish things off openly and completely with one's current spouse/partner before having an affair at all. Peoples' minds do all sorts of things though, from having obsessive thoughts about killing other people to thinking about having sex with them, but it's whether that's translated through into actions that will be painful and destructive to other people when they become apparent that matters. The characters in Brief Encounter thought about the effect of their actions on people who had been loyal to them, the ones in Little Children didn't, and were consumed by anger against the people they thought had wronged them, when it took two to make their marital relationships work. It just didn't make great viewing for me, having to spend a lot of my days at work listening to people breaking down over separation, divorce, etc fort he same reasons.
I have not seen it. Thanks for the review, sounds like it may not appeal much and there are so many good movies I am wanting to see at the moment. Look forward to the book review, maybe :)
So I guess your issue is whether the affairs are depicted in the films tastefully?
Affairs are never tasteful. The shagging in the film as shagging was very well done, and I've made some mental notes about the scenes along the lines of "You must get down to the gym and work out more" and "How can I make the floor by the washing machine feel warmer?"
Thanks too for your honesty and upfront feelings about this movie. I hadn't even heard of it??? I'm wondering if it was more of a movie for women versus men...
Kate Winslet looked like an almost normal woman, whatever his name was looked carefully toned and tanned.
LOL yes - but she looked better in Titanic :) He was very ummmm brown and shiny. I felt like running my hands all over him...just like in that pic you put up with the review hahahahaaha. I showed Paul him when I was watching that on the plane and he said that the guy had spray tan done hahahahaha
Yeah and I was thinking...abit chunkier definitely. It is abit like Minnie Driver, she looked awesome in Circle of Friends and then she went to hollywood and got really skinny.
Celia cheated on her hubby emotionally in Brief Encounter, to me if the emotions are involved but there is no sexual encounter, that is the same as cheating in my eyes. 
