Chatverock Takes itself way too seriously

Wordiezett So much average

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

darthur35 When the film started, I wasn't sure if I'd be interested. This movie is portrayed from a very personal, one on one standpoint of a cancer patient. Memories, insights, humor and fears - Emma Thompson is phenomenal in this role! Never before has a movie pulled so much emotion from me from so many levels. Bravo!

bandw (Spoilers) In the first scene Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) is told she has stage IV ovarian cancer. From that point the film traces her experience to the end, in intimate detail. If you are a cancer survivor, or have been through this experience with a loved one, then I would think that this will be too painful to watch. For others this is probably going to be as close to the experience as you will get until it comes to your life.Vivian is a professor specializing in the poetry of John Donne; appropriately Donne's "Death be not proud" poem figures in the movie. One of the things I got from seeing this is how thinking about death, reading great poetry on the subject, listening to philosophers philosophize doesn't really help a whole lot when faced with the ultimate truth. In the final moments Vivian is a scared, lonely person who simply seeks some human kindness. She does not get this kindness from her doctors--no, they are more interested in her as the object of an experiment to see how well she can withstand intense chemotherapy, so that they can write an article about it Vivian speculates. Vivian does get some understanding and kindness from her nurse Susie (Audra McDonald in a fine performance).Vivian is a brilliant, tough woman who most eloquently articulates her experiences, with some wit. The presentation has innovative touches, like placing the ailing Bearing in her classroom teaching in her hospital gown. Some of the most effective scenes have Vivian talking directly to the camera. One scene I found particularly revealing was when Vivian talked about how slowly time moved and said directly to us, "If this were reality, I would just lie here in silence for fifteen minutes while you sat there looking at me." A particularly moving scene had Vivian's adviser, professor Ashford, visit her on her deathbed. When Ashford said to Vivian, "It's a windy day," I was struck by the total gap between those who are still living their daily lives and those who are dying.By her own admission Vivian is a person who wants to know things, so one thing that puzzled me was why she did not ask more questions at the time of her initial diagnosis. Questions like: "What are my options?", "What are the odds in each case?", "What if I do nothing?", "Can you recommend someone to give me a second opinion?" Given the odds, it looks to me like she would have been much better off to have done nothing but wait until the pain was so bad that she could go on morphine. As it was, her treatment made her life a living hell for the time she had left.Thompson gives a spectacularly good performance. I have to believe that this was not an easy role and it took no small amount of courage for her to commit to it.

gelman@attglobal.net Possible Spoiler: Since it is immediately explained, I'm not giving much away in saying that this is a film about an accomplished literary professor who is dying of ovarian cancer. And for the most part, it is just as grim as that summary sounds. But Emma Thompson, just about the only character who matters, is a brilliant actress, beautiful even when completely bald. Mainly, the film is about her coming to terms, slowly and painfully, with her approaching death. The subtext is that with the exception of one nurse (Audra MacDonald) she is treated as little more than an object, an experiment even, by the doctors, including a young resident who took her literature class in college. Although the film depends entirely on Ms. Thompson, who is almost never off-screen, Mike Nichols, who directed and co-wrote the script with Ms. Thompson, deserves credit if for no other reason then for allowing a great actress the freedom to handle an exceptionally difficult, even harrowing, role with a skill that few living actresses could match. The movie is adapted from a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Margaret Mason. Knowing the plot, I would not have chosen to see the movie except for Emma Thompson (and Mike Nichols) but I'm glad I did.

bob the moo Vivian Bearing is a professor of English literature with her career and life dedicated to the study of the poetry of John Dunn. When she is diagnosed with ovarian cancer she enters a full cycle of treatment that leaves her hairless, sick and weak. As she lies in her room or is shuffled from one set of tests to the next set of treatments she reflects on where she finds herself and how she has approached her life thus far.My plot summary does this a great injustice because it makes it sound like a daytime tvm where we gets lots of emotional flashbacks and lots of lessons learnt and weepy scenes. Nothing could be further from the truth with this film although it does do an element of these. Instead of being manipulative and corny though the film is endlessly poignant, convincing and touching. The style is quite similar to Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, with Vivian being quite matter-of-fact in her to-camera scenes but ultimately betraying emotion and hurt underneath. This approach is well mixed with more traditional scenes and it worked really well for me. I liked the way that Nichols drew the flashback scenes into the monologue scenes and then into the wider scenes with other characters, it worked very well for me and made the film flow in a rather beautiful fashion.Of course the strength of the film is in how utterly moving it is and how it achieves this without ever resorting to cheese or easy sentiment. This is represented in human form by Emma Thompson who gives a performance that is beyond criticism as it is without a flaw. She is utterly convincing and her performance had me smiling as often as crying – it is powerful stuff and I'll say no more because I think to say more would risk somehow lessening it. In support it is hard to say how the others do because of how dominant Thompson is but in fairness the fact that they do hold their own is a credit to them. Lloyd has a cameo more or less but is effective and works well in his character. Woodward is an interesting turn while McDonald does a great job with a character that could easily have been basic and corny.A great film then and ironically so, since it sat on my recorder for over a month before I tried it. It is not a difficult watch but it is very moving and is delivered in a great style that mixes Talking Heads with human drama. The script is brilliant and the delivery from Nichols makes it flow seamlessly while Thompson sits at the heart – convincing, touching and excellent throughout.