AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

'Afterglow + Ray Meets Helen' [Double Feature]
(Lara Flynn Boyle, Nick Nolte, Jonny Lee Miller, Julie Christie, Keith Carradine, Sondra Locke, Keith David, et al / Blu-ray / NR / (1997/2017) 2021 / Moonstone Entertainment - MVD Visual)

Overview: 'Afterglow' is director Alan Rudolph's (Mortal Thoughts) wry romance about a handyman who wreaks havoc and builds romance in two marriages.

Desperate to have a baby, Marianne hires Lucky Mann to remodel a nursery. There's just one problem: Marianne's not pregnant and her husband isn't interested in sex.

So what's a handyman to do? Intimate, intelligent, reckless and romantic, you'll delight in this one and you'll leave in an afterglow of pleasure!

'Ray Meets Helen' brings us the story of how in a bizarre, unrelated turn of events, Ray (Keith Carradine, Nashville) and Helen (Sondra Locke, Bronco Billy) each happen upon large sums of money which give them the chance to re-invent themselves.

From acclaimed writer / director Alan Rudolph (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), 'Ray Meets Helen' features an all-star supporting cast that includes Keith David (The Nice Guys), Samantha Mathis (American Psycho) and Jennifer Tilly (Bullets over Broadway) in a wonderfully, magically humane film filled with imaginative visuals (NY Times) that is filled with Rudolphian magic.

Blu-ray Verdict: In 'Afterglow' (1997), once again, Alan Rudolph shows why he is one of the best directors working in film and I give special credit to cinematographer Toyomichi Kurita for his excellent camera work.

Okay, so its flawed, especially in casting Nick Nolte as the man about town. His appeal is not very believable although he and Johnny Lee Miller do finally find their groove in their scenes opposite Christie.

Miller tries hard to make some sense of his elliptically written character, and looks so good that one hardly cares when his lines are ludicrous.

The real treasure in the movie are its actresses. Julie Christie and Lara Flynn Boyle do all that they can with what's written for them (at times, a little too much), and Christie really manages to give this movie a heart and soul.

She should have won the Oscar (but lost to Helen Hunt playing Helen Hunt in As Good As it Gets). Christie is arguably our most cinematic actress.

One cannot imagine how she would emote on stage. Her face conveys everything, said and unsaid, hidden and obvious, and in playing for the camera as only she can do, she does for this movie what she did for Dr. Zhivago: she gives it a little life.

This film is touching, funny, quirky, and just plain great, it will entertain everyone with its sense of joie de vivre and irony.

In 'Ray Meets Helen' (2017), well, sadly, it's a little disjointed and the entire movie is slightly weird!

Also, you can tell from the opening scenes just how sick Sondra Locke was (although she looked better at the end of the film, but they don't shoot films in order, do they?), given that sadly died the next year after fighting cancer for almost two decades (this was her last movie).

Overall a HIGHLY sentimental movie, which I actually liked it a lot, 'Ray Meets Helen' tries to balance whimsical romantic fantasy with a melancholy examination of guilt and regret, and kinda/sorta succeeds.

The latest project from director Alan Rudolph ('Afterglow'), it struggles to make its characters likeable or believable, especially "Ray" (Keith Carradine), a lonely ex-boxer who stumbles upon stacks of cash after witnessing an armored-car accident.

Helen (the aforementioned Sondra Locke) likewise is haunted by a troubled past and trying to use sudden wealth as a path to redemption.

As their paths cross during one impulsive romantic evening, both realize that money can’t buy happiness. The performances are strong, although the characters never manage to achieve much chemistry with each other, but the powerful messages laid out for us are what truly makes this movie the gem that it fully deserves to be for the current times. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced to HD 1080p.

Amazon Purchase Link

www.MVDvisual.com





...Archives