Overrated

Just perfect...

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

1st watched 12/4/2011 – 4 out of 10(Dir-Stanley Tucci): Artsy, sad and somewhat pretentious movie made by Stanley Tucci about a couple who play games that consist of one of them putting in a personal ad – the other answering it, and then each play the parts displayed in the ad. Stanley's character is a magician who appears to own his own bar and the woman, played by Patricia Clarkson, is the troubled wife. The story is narrated by their daughter, who we find out later died in a car crash where the couple was at fault. The games they are playing are supposed to be therapy to help them handle their problems they have had since the daughter's death. Some of the role-playing just doesn't make sense – some of it has some funny bits, but mostly it's the two of them not really making much progress and wasting their time together. The movie is based on another movie but was re-written by Tucci and David Schechter. The movie feels like Tucci's attempt to make a foreign movie, but here's the problem – Tucci and Clarkson are Americans, and the movie just doesn't come across very genuine. Sometimes actors are just not suppose to write or direct and maybe this is the case for this well-known actor. Sorry, this is just the way I see it after viewing Tucci's failed attempt at an art-house type film.

This film plays out like an acting exercise by two very capable, well-established actors. What holds the simple plot together, along with the series of vignettes showcasing the actors' skills, are two things: the personal ads introducing each segment, and the narration by the characters' deceased daughter.Blind Date is probably more valuable as a teaching tool in a professional acting class than it would be as a night at the cinema for the general public.Excerpts from Blind Date will doubtless appear in retrospectives of Clarkson's and Tucci's acting careers, as illustrating examples of their work. That Tucci also directed likely strengthens the focus of the film in terms of his and his co-star's portrayals.

Don, a magician, is seen practicing his art in a club that has probably seen better days. Through a personal ad in a local newspaper, he meets Janna, a woman of a certain age, that has an aura of mystery about herself and the way she interacts with Don. It is clear these two like one another because they keep meeting at the same place on different occasions. Throughout the story, a girl's voice comes on to tell us something about her parents.As this tale unfolds, we realize the real identity of the two people that are presented to us, who go through different emotions; they are, after all, well acquainted with one another. The thing that binds them is a tragedy that has left them wounded individuals because the terrible loss they have suffered. By pretending they are just meeting in casual ways, they seem to be re-igniting a passion that has died between them and have terribly changed them forever.This is an American tribute to the late Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic extremist in his native country. Stanley Tucci, an actor who has tried his hand at directing before, adapted the original material with David Schecter. The result is a film that tends to disorient the viewer not paying close attention to all that develops between Don and Janna.Patricia Clarkson, one of the best screen actresses working today, offers an insight to the suffering Janna. Ms. Clarkson and Mr. Tucci, who plays Don, do wonders with the material and prove they are at the top of their craft.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to watch the first version of this film, the one that was made by Theo Van Gogh. Therefore, I'm not very sure that the summary I used is true for I don't know how much this "Blind Date" is different from Theo Van Gogh's "Blind Date." Anyway, I liked the way the film is made. It is very simple, yet deep and clever. The narrator is used in a very good way.For a moment I was about to hate the ending, but the last camera movement fixed things. It was a clever and touching evening.Performances are very, very good. And Tucci has done a good job as a director, making the film looks as simple as it should be.On the other hand, the film could use a faster pace in some places, and closer shots in many cases would have done the film much better. But it is still a very good film and a very original one too.