Excellent adaptation.

Crappy film

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I believe that I've Heard the Mermaids Singing should have done far better in the box office. It is a clever movie that tells an original story about a unique character who takes quirkiness to a new, and quite charming, level. The film utilizes the main character, Polly's, odd dreams to foreshadow and explain events throughout its 81 minuet running. Although some may find it to be too complicated, or think that it makes no sense, a closer look reveals many creative and clever elements that can help one better understand the film and its characters. Some such elements are Polly's first dream, which in about a minuet manages to foreshadow the entire film, and the film's final scene, which demonstrates that Gabrielle has come to realize that aging does not take away from beauty, thanks to Polly. The film also shows its aptitude for symbolism in the names of certain locations, namely the Church Gallery. The art gallery's name represents Polly's "worship," as one could call it, of Gabrielle and the world of art. Despite all of this, I've Heard the Mermaids Signing only grossed $1,408,491 in the box office, far less than the 597th most grossing movie of all time, Collateral, which made $100,003,492. I believe that a movie with such a creative plot, and with characters that are extremely relatable and lovable, deserves to be much higher on the list. A list, I feel I should point out, that it didn't even make. Saying that this film is under-appreciated is a massive understatement.

Good things often come in surprisingly small packages, and this Canadian export is a very small thing indeed: a low budget sleeper describing the private world of Polly Vandersma, the 'organizationally impaired' Person Friday and part-time assistant for the curator of a high-brow Toronto art gallery. Painfully shy, prone to daydreams and distraction, socially inept and insecure, Polly is a simple person attracted to what she calls 'art things': obscure painting, modern architecture, the oblique language of intellectuals. It's a world she's not well equipped for (to say the least), and after developing an innocent crush on her curator boss she learns the hard way exactly how cold the world of 'art things' can be. Her story is both poignant and funny, built around the framing device of Polly's odd, confessional video diary, in which she recounts the one, glorious moment in her otherwise negligible life when she broke free of her shell. But the real secret behind the fragile charm of the movie is Sheila McCarthy's disarming star performance, capturing all of Polly's clumsy optimism and curiosity. Originally shown with 'Paradiso', a long (long) animated wet dream from the Age of Aquarius.

This is an intellectually ambitious film about meta-art: What is the relation between an art object and intense aesthetic experience? What is the value of the art object if it is devoid of the cultural "frame"? How are certain people legitimized to confer value upon art objects?The film deals with big questions. Even so. Its main character is someone who is so endearing that you care very much about what happens next. It counts as an offbeat "warm 'n' fuzzy" flick. The humor is both deft and sweet.As someone who teaches at a college, I think this would be a very *teachable* film. Use it to raise and illustrate these questions in an aesthetics class, or in a class discussing the creation/ propagation of artistic canons.

An intelligent and unusual "art house"-type movie about a modest and eccentric dreamer (McCarthy). This low-key comedy melodrama isn't pretentious, though; quite to the contrary - it makes fun of pretentious bull***t-talk that takes place in the pop-art scene. The comments two of these "art experts" make while evaluating a series of paintings is very funny and effective; stuff like "his boyish bravado has a certain charm", "he is somewhat incapacitated by his emotions", "New York is wild for his oblique pragmatism", "the static structure is offset by his whimsical sociological references", "there is a hopefulness in his contextural destruction", or "the lack of resolution of his themes almost adds to a vaguely literal internal transformation of the subject" (my favourite). And while the two are spouting off this verbal malarkey, McCarthy eavesdrops on their conversation and naively nods. McCarthy is perfectly cast, totally convincing, and easily the best in an obscure cast. Two plot twists at the end. An interesting soundtrack.If you're interested in reading my extensive satire of modern art, "Picasso", contact me by e-mail.