Captivating movie !

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Empire Falls is a depressing town in which every resident has problems, and all but one of those problems are self-inflicted. The one exception is Joanne Woodward's crippled daughter who was run over by a car when she was a toddler. It's hard to feel sorry for anyone else in the town. Ed Harris manages a restaurant but can't get his head above water because wealthy Woodward owns everything and to cross her means ruination. So don't cross her! He can't express his feelings for his soon-to-be-ex-wife Helen Hunt, so she's going to marry someone else. Just figure your feelings out, and either fight for her or let her go—it's not that difficult! Helen Hunt is upset because her fiancé is significantly older than her, but he loves her and is great in the sack-a-roo. Get your priorities straight, Helen! Robin Wright Penn is a single mom drawn to mysterious, wealthy Philip Seymour Hoffman. Just say no and focus on your kid! Hoffman is miserable in his environment—so leave! Paul Newman is the town joke/drunk/mooch, but he wants to feel the excitement of being a young man again. Clean up your act! Alright, my frustrations have been aired out, but I don't think I've successfully steered you away from Empire Falls. It's incredibly depressing, and not in a good way. It was based off of Richard Russo's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, so I kept waiting for the redeeming factor to enter the story. The three and a half hour HBO TV movie is split into eight chapters, and in the seventh chapter, something really bad happens. You know I never give spoilers, but the thing that happens is really upsetting and unnecessary. It's random and doesn't tie in to any part of the story, serving only to shock and upset audiences (and readers) and to gain Russo the Pulitzer Prize. It's terribly obvious that's why he wrote it, a reason that's not noble and, frankly, almost angers me.There's only one good part of the entire movie: In a flashback to a young Paul Newman, Josh Lucas was cast. I've always thought Lucas and Newman looked alike, so I was very happy that Hollywood agreed with me, even only for a few minutes of a flashback. The story constantly flashes back to Ed Harris's childhood memories, and for most of the time, it's boring and not very interesting.I can't stress enough how terrible Empire Falls is. Please, please don't watch it. It's so incredibly upsetting, and for absolutely no purpose, that when it was over, I had to watch an animal documentary to comfort my mind before going to bed, for fear of nightmares. The story isn't deep or symbolic. There's no "greater good" that will make you feel better.I never give spoilers in my review, but if you're still considering watching Empire Falls, I urge you to read a spoiler. Then, if after reading it, you're still considering watching it, get your head examined.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to some extremely upsetting content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

One question kept coming up while watching this. Why on Earth pay for so capable actors and then waste them on clumsy adaptation and catastrophic direction. We are talking Paul Newman, Robin Wright and Helen Hunt in one place, which will never happen again, and even Ed Harris is too good for this production.There is a reason why writers who don't write cinematic novels are normally nor allowed to write adaptations of their own work - they are in love with their own writing and turn a movie into an audio book.That's exactly what happened here. Long, unwieldy scenes with a narrator essentially reading the book and footage serving as a mere illustration. Doesn't HBO have anyone to review this stuff and keep sending it back to square one till it actually becomes cinematic. It even spells out book chapters and has things like "this will be in the latter chapter" which is plain pathetic.Good director can usually rectify this kind of mess but Fred Schepisi has shown such ineptitude that's it's painful to watch how he stumbles, neglects character development and uses multiple copies of prior sequences to the point that it becomes annoyingly noticeable. He also seems to be incapable to compose sequences of the right length to convey sub-plots. He either makes them ridiculously long and boring, all the way to having the book being read into your face, or he cuts them short, doesn't finish the park and makes the final cut look random.Particularly annoying aspect is that he doesn't have the first clue how to visually separate scenes that are long memories serving as sub plots from flashbacks (short and dramatic) and from the main/present scenes. They are all just equally flat, not even a change in the lighting or set decor to depict two different times.

Lemme ask you this, is there such thing as a good soap opera? or are they all corny? Some can be better than others. Empire Falls is a well acted television feature, that is sporadically effective. When it is good, it's good, but when it is weak, it's very weak.Empires Falls is a once famed textile mill town. The narrative is told from the point of view, of Miles Roby; a café owner, and a valued member of the community. Everyont in the film is somehow related to him. His daughter has managed to befriend the newest kid in town who is being bullied, his father is a quirky underachiever who keeps asking for money. His ex lover, is the daughter of the wealthiest woman in town, who doesn't like him much. There is also the memories of his mother and step father. At the moment Miles is trying to upgrade business, but is having a little trouble.Empire Falls beings and ends solidly, but the two hours in between drift in and out between likable sentimental, and sappy sentimental. Some of the dialogue is actually really badly scripted. Paul Newman, even though he doesn't get much screen time delivers the best performance in the film, followed of course by Ed Harris who hasn't done a bad movie yet.Empire Falls kept me going, despite some bits which are almost unwatchable. It's not a bad programme at all, but it's not as great as it probably should've been.

This is about the film. I haven't read the book. So, my take is strictly to the point of commenting on the movie version of the story.I enjoyed this film for the scenic locations and amazing cast artfully giving us the complex characters of the story.If you have never been to New England, take it from a recent transplant from Southern California, it is all and more than you imagine or see in the movies. I lived in San Diego for the first 45 years of my life and moved to rural Massachusetts 4 years ago and plan to stay for the second half of my life. This film captures real locations that I have visited in my travels around New England. It's a different world on this side of the country. Not better. Not worse. What is most different is that the everyday landscape just pops out at you in endless contrasts. This film does an excellent job of capturing that.The intricate stories in this movie develop carefully as details are revealed deftly in smooth transitions to flashbacks. The characters each hold a special interest and stake in the dynamics of life in a town overshadowed by a rich, vengeful widow (Joanne Woodward) wielding her will as she (you-would-think) supposedly struggles with her own guilt. This facet of her character is not easily given up by Joanne Woodward.Woodward surprises in the unfortunate way she delivers her role in a rather formal style of acting that pre-dates most films made after 1960. She says her lines as if on stage and doesn't really play "in frame" to the camera. Her scenes seem oddly out of sync in the film.The other actors are thoroughly convincing and imaginative in their portrayals. The motivations and demeanors are all clearly understood even with some of the deliciously portrayed complexities of the characters. The scenes with Ed Harris (as Miles Roby) and William Fichtner (playing Jimmy Minty) are masterfully acted to reveal numerous layers in each character's persona. There is so much more than just dialog going on in those scenes. I'ts absolutely convincing.Helen Hunt (as frustrated and angry ex-wife, Janine Roby) is just a tiny bit off center in this role. She seems to be trying too hard and ends up all over the place from a crass broad with no humor to a painfully inept mother with no mother's instincts. Her shallow portrayal doesn't allow for much sympathy. Throughout, she just isn't believable. But, you go along because it's Helen Hunt.The back story of the abandoned high school kid, John Voss, (compellingly acted by Lou Taylor Pucci) and the Roby's daughter (Danielle Panabaker) adds an unusual twist to the story. I can't give away details. But, I think the Voss character needed more attention in the film. We want to know more about him.The production seems to unravel near the end when it wraps up rather abruptly with the epilogue. Anyone would think they should have taken it farther. It doesn't feel like there is closure even though you know what happens. It's not necessarily clear. Maybe the answer is in the book. Maybe something was edited out for time's sake.The Special Features are okay. I enjoyed Paul Newman's comments on how much he enjoyed staying in the town where this was filmed in Maine. He mentioned staying in the town and making some new friends.I'll bet he liked that little harbor side restaurant that was in a few scenes when going to and from Martha's Vineyard. The restaurant is actually in Hyannis on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I've been there 5 times. Great lobstah at that restaurant. The ferry landing to the Vineyard is just a short walk away.I enjoyed this series quite a bit on many levels. There is not any one thing that sticks out. It is a high quality production all around. I will watch it again.