Captivating movie !

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

One of the true stars of this movie is the home! It is a magnificent display of the Neoclassical and, even more pleasant to the eye, the"Art Nouveau" of the 1890's and early 1900's. The film is a well done romantic comedy with lots of twists and I enjoy it for that. But, as an artist it is the settings that bring me back to it over and over. The beautiful interiors created in an artistic renaissance more than a hundred years past. The magnificent woodwork, wall paintings, and sculptures! The beautiful Architecture of Quebec! The snow covered landscapes of Canada! I get lost in this visual banquet. If you are an artist, or an aficionado of neoclassical art you should give this film a closer look.

Gabriella invites Michael to spend Christmas with the family in Quebec City. This includes the mother and father, plus sisters Simone and Irenka, and Irenka's boyfriend Nick.Michael runs afoul of just about everything. Gabriella tells him she is no longer in love with him. Gabriella's mother is a fairly strict Catholic who believes in avoiding sex before marriage. The family dog does not seem to like him.In a sub-thread, the grandmother is ill, and periodically escapes from the hospital to be with her dead husband at their previous home. While looking for Granny, Michael falls down a shaft. Granny discovers him, and they go back to where Granny lived with her husband, also named Michael.Michael gets a second round of this when the others go skiing, Nick goes for petrol, and Michael thinks he's alone with her. Michael finds Granny's long missing 'summer shoes.' When he tries to present her with them, he finds that Granny has gone to yet another house.On the way back to the hospital, Granny's health plummets. Nick and Michael don't quite get her back in time. The funeral was held before Christmas. Nick leaves after the viewing. At Christmas, things are a bit somber. Michael meets (yes, mysterious) Young Granny at the family tomb.Michael has farewell discussions before he goes home.-----Scores-----Cinematography: 10/10 Professional presentation, start to finish.Sound: 9/10 The actors were properly miked, and most of the incidental music was well-chosen.Acting: 8/10 Patrick Dempsey was brilliant, as were Lila Kedrova, Andre Gregory, Florinda Bolkan, and Sanna Vraa. Jennifer Connelly was hard to recognise, and was more irritating than anything else.Screenplay: 8/10 Clever and mature.

Jennifer Connelly + "Teen Comedy" = loads of T&A, right? No. This movie is about a thousand times smarter and more reflective than that. This movie made me more interested in seeing her movies for her acting and not just the yards of sweaty flesh. She's made some crapola since then; "Inventing the Abbotts" was a gigantic waste of everyone involved, "Mulholland Falls" made me genuinely wonder if she was about to pull a Bridget Fonda but then "Requiem for a Dream" and "A Beautiful Mind" set the world to right. This is a preview of the kind of career choices she was going to start making, with occasional forays into titillation-land to cover the rent.It's just a movie, it's not going to reach out and change you or make you see God or anything. You will have to do that yourself. But it does draw you in anticipating a standard farce and instead getting a reflection on desire, wishes and the true definition of a life well lived.There's plenty of teeny skin-and-blood (both original and new Irony-flavored) flicks out there, rent those if you want to be cool like everyone else. If you want to spend some time musing about a movie after you see it, rent this.

The family in Some Girls are the Taylors of Montreal...the screenwriter actually dated one of the Taylor sisters and fictionalized them into this movie...The father is actually world-famous philosopher and McGill U. professor Charles Taylor. Their late mother *was* very Catholic...and the legendary house is real- an old wooden Metcalfe Avenue mansion, in Westmount- since sold, but still there. Of course, this film annoys them to no end - so don't mention it if you're invited to