Down the Shore

2011
5.9| 1h33m| R| en
Details

Set on the Jersey shore, the lives of three childhood friends begin to unravel when a secret from their past is revealed

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Reviews

Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
jaynea38 I love James Gandolfini and this little movie showed me why. In Down the Shore he is a sad, lonely man disappointed in what life has handed him and yet powerless to change anything. The bleak setting of the shore in winter, a broken down amusement park and the tiny run down houses (although the house weirdly gets bigger and nicer as the film goes on), produce an almost claustrophobic feeling to the film. Everyone before has said it..its beautifully acted and filmed. But afterwards I kept asking myself questions in the plot that were never fully explained. I gave it an 8 because it's a beautiful well crafted film...but flawed.
MattyGibbs Down the Shore is a small drama that soars way above your expectations. It concerns 3 childhood friends living in a small town whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a stranger comes to visit. It takes it time to set up the premise by which time you get to know the characters involved. With a smart script, it sucks you in and you quickly get involved in the lives of the characters. It never goes where you think it will and the acting throughout is just superb by all members of the talented cast. The sadly deceased James Gandolfino puts in a towering performance as a man tortured by the past. There is a melancholy air throughout the film accentuated by a sparse and bleak landscape. This is an intelligent film that deserves a much wider audience and is well worth seeking out.
cruff Excellent. It is rare to see a film that is so unassuming and yet has the stuff that makes me want to be there- know more about it- want to see more- hear more. I know these people- Some of this story resonates like it happened in my life. It didn't have to be Gandolfini and Janssen- It could have been any of a hundred actors handling those parts. But seeing these great people on the screen really makes this movie even greater for me. I don't think I am steering you wrong to award this fine movie 8 of 10. I believe it is worth every point. And, yes, the writer doesn't tell you everything. Like so many other great movies a lot remains unsaid. I hope you enjoy it like I have.
gradyharp DOWN THE SHORE is one of those little sensitive films that seems like it is lightweight until the secrets of the story begin to leak. It is a film about thwarted human relations that have a core of ill-define tragic misconceptions. It is well written (by Sandra Jennings), well directed (by Harold Guskin) and happens to provide a showcase for some inordinately gifted actors who usually are not given the attention they deserve.The film opens in Paris where a handsome Jacques (the very impressive Italian actor Edoardo Costa) is cranking a carousel for children in a little park. Observing him is a winsome Susan (Maria Dizzia) who speaks no French but in a rare moment of instant chemical gaze we can see that she and Jacques connect. Susan hires Jacques to be her guide while she is in Paris - and then we see them no more. The scene changes to 3 months later when Jacques comes to Susan's home in New Jersey, meets her brother Bailey (a brilliant role for James Gandolfini), informs Bailey that Susan is dead, and gives Bailey a letter and Susan's ashes and informs Bailey that he and Susan were married in France: the letter confirms that Jacques is to own half of Susan's house which she shared with Bailey and Jacques suggests he and Bailey be partners. Bailey runs a small carnival park on the Jersey shore and Jacques is able to help him bring life back into the children's rides.The other part of the story concerns Mary (Famke Janssen in excellent form) who is Bailey's childhood sweetheart but now married to Bailey's best friend, the covertly abusive crack addict Wiley (Joe Pope) who happens to own the little carnival park where Bailey works. Some talk between the two men suggests that their fathers were bad men but Wiley inherited his father's wealth and park and married Mary with whom he had a mentally challenged son Martin (John Magaro) while Bailey has remained single living with his sister Susan. The secrets of why Wiley is addicted to crack and physically abuses Mary while Bailey seems to do nothing about the woman he still loves is brought into focus by the wise Jacques, the one person who seems to be adjusted and happy despite his wife's recent death from cancer. In talks with both Bailey and Wiley, Jacques uncovers the horrid secrets that have bruised everyone's lives and what those secrets mean, and how the story works out must be withheld until the viewer experiences this film.A stronger cast could not be imagined for this well written, well-directed film. The degree of identification with absolutely every character in the film is truly remarkable. This is a tale of the maladaptation to secrets of the past. And one of the many beauties of the film is the manner in which much is left unresolved or unsaid at the end. Grady Harp