Fresh and Exciting

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An honest try at portraying the struggle for relationship across generational lines. A lighthearted look at the downsides of being super smart. Supergeeks need love! While the performances are solid, it is hard to imagine the 'plot,' i.e., (spoiler, please read no further if you are spoiler averse) a faculty liaison with a sixteen year old. Jeez! Pretty Little Liars was more than enough in that vein. More to the point, how could someone this geeky get this much action with no awkwardness at all? I am a huge fan of both Gabriel Byrne and Nathan Lane but there were moments when I felt they were phoning it in, although phoning it in for these two remains excellent.A feel good movie with a lot to say about how confusing love is, but, oh, how necessary.

My wife and I watched this on Netflix streaming, in fact it may be a Netflix original. We enjoyed it very much, although fiction it rings very true.The titular character is Londoner actress Bel Powley, about 21 during filming, playing Carrie Pilby, 19 and already graduated from Harvard, living in New York City. In a phone call with her dad we gather that he is paying her apartment and a year after getting her degree she still is unemployed.She is very bright and very happy being alone, reading, avoiding social activities, even avoiding dating. She sees a therapist regularly, Nathan Lane in a good role as Dr. Petrov. He just wants to help Carrie be happier, to realize her potential and that requires becoming more social.Also good in a smaller but important role is Gabriel Byrne as her dad, Mr. Pilby living in London and about to remarry, something that doesn't make Carrie very happy.The story goes along, dad helps arrange a job in the evenings as a proof reader for a law firm. She makes a couple of friends there and she goes out some. There is an issue with a former young, good-looking professor that she had an affair with when she was only 17, who had never returned the book she loaned him. Dad sees to it she gets her book back. And a poke in the nose as a punctuation during his Christmas house party.The movie is made or broken by the lead actor and Ms Powley is really superb in the role. I had seen her earlier this year in "A Royal Night Out" where she plays Margaret, the younger sister of eventual Queen Elizabeth in 1945 celebrating VE Day.

I saw this movie at the Arclight in Chicago last week, knowing nothing about it. I found it to be charming, intelligent, observant and very layered. Bel Powley seems like a force to be reckoned with, and there wasn't a weak link in the cast. I recommended this film to my 62 year old parents, and my 17 year old twins, and everyone loved it. We've now bought the film On Demand as well. Go see it!

I was so excited to see this film at the Toronto filmfest last week. You might enjoy it because it's very funny - a hyper verbal genius, 19 and a year out of college, taking on the hypocrisies of adulthood, and sparring with therapist (Nathan Lane) and some other interesting characters. Some of the jokes were dry and some more obvious. But there's a lot to make you think besides just laughing. I enjoyed seeing 19-yar-old Carrie's beliefs challenged in so many different ways. She sets out to expose a few "cheaters" in society but is surprised to find the situations not as black and white as she thought. Isn't that what we all learn as we grow? Ultimately she does the right thing, but it's not always easy. I am leaving out the spoilers but I just want to say that you will be surprised by a few of the twists and turns. I haven't read the book it's based on so I can't compare it to that, but I will say that it's funny, charming and I LOVE the actors. I think this movie will do well with an audience like me, recent college grads and anyone in 30s/40s/50s questioning where they fit into the world.. Can't wait till its in theaters so I can bring friends!