Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (2009)

N.B: With my blog having been far too rambling of late, I've decided to bring a bit of substance to it. I'm setting myself the challenge of watching a new film every day for the next week and reporting back here. If I can keep it up, I'll then do it for a month, two, six, a year, etc. Let's see how we go...

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

Main Cast: Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Charlie Tahan, Lisa Kudrow

Plot Summary: A young woman, Emilia, struggles to cope with the recent death of her baby whilst trying to build a relationship with her step-son.

The Good: -The flashbacks to the night of the baby's death were poignant and heartbreaking, and using three door frames to highlight individual moments of that night worked particularly well.

-Kudrow's portrayal of the high strung Upper East Side mother was effective and realistic without being completely over the top. A scene between herself and Portman where she was seen to be supportive, gave her character some depth and stopped her from being one dimensional.

The Bad: - There was nothing overly 'bad' about the film, but it constantly seemed to fall short. I expected more from Portman especially, and kept waiting to see uninhibited grief which I assumed would come from the death of a child. Instead, I got Hollywood pretty tears that never quite cut it.

- The film had several skips in time and I suspect that if we'd seen some of the action within the time lapses, I'd have been left feeling more moved than I did.

Memorable Moment: The scene in Kudrow's office between herself and Portman.


Score: 5/10


Verdict: Perfectly average. I expected to be saddened and affected because of the difficult theme concerning the death of a baby, but I came away feeling nothing. Indifference is possibly the worst reaction to have to anything, and therefore Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was a disappointment.