VividSimon Simply Perfect

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Bob 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.

MisterWhiplash Think Twin Peaks if you took away the surrealism and upped the super-tragic factor: it's not one young person but over 20 dead who die in a horrible bus accident on an icy road and leave a whole town scarred, with one man coming in to try and figure out what happened. Only in this case it's not the FBI, it's a lawyer, trying to file suit against the town for more damages as compensation for the parents. Considering the many characters and the various ways they feel throughout the film, an alternate title for the film could be called The Bitter Simmering Grief.This is one of those rare films where one scene, and a choice of a narration-device, mars for me what is otherwise an excellent drama, and generally one of the better films of 1997 (a year with many great films). But before I get to that, some praise for Ian Holm. My God is he phenomenal in this movie. He has to do, as this character of Mitchell Stevens, appealing to the anger and grief of these victims and channel that anger (more than the grief, if he can help it) to go along with him in the suit. At the same time this character is dealing with his daughter, addicted to drugs and spiraling out of control, and it's always in phone calls where he can barely speak to her in a rational way.One of the scenes that can shake you up as you watch this film involves Holm talking to his daughter on the phone (this after a nasty encounter with one of the locals, played by Bruce Greenwood, who doesn't want him in the town), and he finds out from her that she's HIV positive. This relies in part on a monologue he gives to an old friend of hers he meets on a plane as he tells a story involving when his daughter was near death from a spider bite in her throat and having to come close to doing what he had to for her. Just seeing him speaking this, and then this in mind as he finds out this news, the way that Egoyan shoots that scene with the wide shots of her on the phone at a booth, the close-ups on him, then in to her, with brief flashes to her as a baby... it's a gut-punch. And Holm sells it, every single second. It's a cliché to call something a powerhouse in a performance, but that's what he's giving here, and often in very subtle ways, sometimes with just a look or how he's listening to people, or subtly appealing to characters' emotions.Sarah Polly is also really terrific too as the teenager who was one of the only survivors (along with the driver) on the bus. My problem with the film doesn't come with her, but with a certain story choice that is made about a third to maybe mid-way through the film - it's difficult to spoil it, but it involves a scene that seems to me just dropped right into the thick of things, and it doesn't have very much lead up for these characters. While it does ultimately pay off in the climax of the story, it is still a jarring move; even at 112 minutes long, I wish the film had been longer to develop these characters and this conflict that is clearly there. It's meant to be accentuated by the narration of the Pied Piper, which Polly's character is reading to the children and then comes back up from time to time. It's too on-the-nose dramatically speaking, especially for a film that is loaded with enough drama and tragedy as it is.And yet I can't recommend the film enough, despite my caveats on a first viewing. The Sweet Hereafter, beautifully shot in snow-covered Canada, is meant to look on into that terrible moment when tragedy rocks not just one family but a whole town - and yet these people, individually, have to deal with the pains of losing their children in their own ways, with Stevens most of all as his daughter is dying, yet so far away from him, and yet there's also Greenwood's character, who is gruff and mustached and full of the sort of pain that he will keep inside of himself for the rest of his life. It's a near-masterpiece.

JasonGuzman Excellently paced, disjointed editing for maximal effect. How greed can hinder our sense of community and morality. Excellent Ensemble cast. Sarah Polley is excellent as a survivor whose family hires a lawyer to represent her and other families wounded emotionally from an accident. The lawyer is tired of giving into his daughter's whims and fueling her addiction and wants to help her but thinks its futile while he is taking advantage of peoples emotions for gain. This movie makes you think about morality, community, integrity, loss and suffering. For serious filmgoers it is one not to miss. Theirugeiurgheirugheiurghieurhgieurhgieurhgieurghieruhgeiruhgeiru gheiurghieurhgieurhgiuehrgiuehriguehriguheriugheiruhguierhgieurhg uiehrgiuheriguheriugheirugheirugheiruhgeirughieurhgieurhgieurhgiu ehrguiehr

Python Hyena The Sweet Hereafter (1997): Dir: Atom Egoyen / Cast: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood, Tom McCamus, Maury Chaykin: Terrific film about the promise of a better tomorrow. A community loses children in a tragic bus accident and Ian Holm plays a lawyer who arrives to represent the town in a lawsuit. Contact with his daughter brings memories of a time when she nearly died. Director Atom Egoyen who previously made Exotica employs symbolic images using the Pied Piper story. Holm is flawless as a lawyer bent on covering up his mistakes by solving others. His presence is not welcome amongst town folks, and his daughter calling only brings grief and regret. Great supporting work by Sarah Polley as a wheelchair victim whom Holm is trying to convince to assist in the lawsuit. She was seated at the front of the bus and as a result she became paralyzed from the waist down. Bruce Greenwood plays a father who witnessed the tragedy, and Tom McCamus plays Polley's father who molested her when she was young. Maury Chaykin provides great comic relief during a scene where he explains and basically points fingers in blunt fashion. Many of these people wish to continue onward as oppose to indulge in a lawsuit that can only result in more pain. Emotional film about dealing with loss and protecting children from the reality of fate. Score: 10 / 10

gavin6942 In a small town in British Columbia, a school bus skids into a lake, killing several children. Their grieving parents are approached by a lawyer, Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm), who is haunted by his dysfunctional relationship with his drug-addicted daughter.First of all, well played to Sarah Polley, who not only sings but also has to be paralyzed. She never seems to have gotten the full respect she deserves, and in many circles is best known for the "Dawn of the Dead" remake. She is so much more than that.And Ian Holm is a powerful lead. Apparently Donald Sutherland was the first choice but it ended up in Holm's lap. Sutherland is one of my favorite actors, but I think Holm has a sense of gravitas that Sutherland does not. So, with all due respect, this was the right call.This is widely considered one of the greatest Canadian films of all time. That is a tall claim, but who am I to argue with the critics?