This film possesses a special quality of mediocrity that keeps it from being offensively bad, but I still resented having taken the 1.5 hours of my time to watch. And let's be clear about my sympathies: I adore Dylan Moran, Black Books, Simon Pegg, and BritComs in general. I think that Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria are interesting and talented actors.

I place all the blame on Mr. Schwimmer, who has badly misused a dream-cast in this schmaltzy, stupid film.

"When you're feeling under pressure, do something different. Roll up your sleeves, or eat an orange."

You said:

BERNARD!!!!!!!

Words cannot adequately describe my love for Dylan Moran, I have been looking forward to this movie for about a year, I am saddened that the reviews are negative but it just goes to show that the world needs more unadulterated Dylan Moran and less David Schwimmer.

I love, love, love all three women. Ab fab is a fave, but also like French and Saunders, and was sad to see the finale of the Vicar of Dibley. Yay!

I'd see any films by this director based on how much I loved the Station Agent. I had no idea that the director was Scott Templeton.

Have you seen Tristram Shandy? Have you seen 24 hour Party People, Marie Antoinette, Hamlet 2. All better than Borat for my money.

Brilliant response - and this coming from someone who could completely empathize with the letter writer.

Direct Quote from Wikipedia:

LuAnn de Lesseps is a trained nurse and a member of the Algonquin tribe of Connecticut. She is the wife of Alexandre, Count de Lesseps, a French entrepreneur and philanthropist whose great-great-grandfather developed the Suez Canal. She has two children, Victoria (13), and Noel (11). Lesseps also teaches etiquette on morning television shows and has a local cable show on WVVH-TV in the Hamptons called "The Countess Report

He rolls his great eyes, muggs, eyebrows up, weird pauses, exagerated shrugs, like a pantomime. He's phoning in the same overwrought performance again and again. Anybody seen Donnie Brasco? Next to Pacino, Depps acting is so nuanced and understated that it's like watching Bella Lugosi pair up with Samantha Morton. Hmmm. Actually, not a good comparison, but you get the drift. Pacino hasn't done anything beyond schtick in a while, and I refuse to bow done before his supposed actor skilz till I see some current evidence of them.

Also, one review of this film referred to Pacino's orange tan and foot high pompadour, and, looking at the pics I have to agree, yet every woman in the film is hot for him. Pah! That may work for Al Pacino, the star, who no doubt attracts honey, but a grizzled, orange-skinned prof with a thinning boufant? I think not.

When we were in our early 20s, my sister was unemployed and I had a low-paying service job. My sister's apartment was close to where I worked, and, in order to save money, she would cook me lunch each day (I would give her money from my pay cheque, and that way we both ate on the cheap). We would buy veggies from a chinese grocer near us who sold slightly rotten or spotted vegetables (you'd get a zuchinni or tomato for 10 cents, an eggplant for 50 cents etc..) Here is a yummy dish we used to eat:

Fry a chopped zuchinni, tomato, some eggplant and an onion lightly in a bit of any kind of oil. Add some chopped dill. Open a pack of ramen, and throw in the soup mix. Add a cup of water and the juice of half a lemon, as well as the noodles. Simmer till liquid thickens to a gravy consistency.

We called it Greek sloppy joes. It cost about 50 cents per large bowl. I actually still like it now that I can actually afford produce that isn't past its prime.

Above. I was not seriously considering reading this book, just thought your observations about Austen and Mystery writing were spot on.

How do they explain Posh Spice's brood of boys? My guess is she's skipping breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Maybe there's a correlation between male progeny and mass doses of effedrin combined with a lettuce only diet and 2 hours daily on the stair-climber? Or maybe it's genetic? Hmm...No one in my family ever turned down a slab of pate on french stick, and we've had nothing but girls for 3 generations.

I realize that this evidence is only anecdotal, but, if the study really has a grain of truth, then why aren't the women of poor countries with lower caloric intake giving birth to way more girls than boys?

I expected to hate it, but found it mesmerizing. It wasn't about a stereotypical Americana, nor any Americana in particular. It was more like a fairy-tale, or poem, about fathers and children, and creating your own family when the one you got dealt lets you down. The filming was beautiful and Sarah Polley looked like a luminous angel, which is sort of what she was. Sam Sheppard was superb, as usual.

I was really moved, but then I probably have some father-issues. I would never have seen it, except that my sister called me up to recommend it, and certainly I've got friends who hated it, but I wouldn't write it off as dull. A bit pretentious, maybe, but worth the time.

While I loved the Lord of the Rings adaptations, I truly did find that at times they were overly maudlin without truly capturing the horror of the wars they were depicting. This may echo the overall feeling of Tolkein's books (it's been years since I read them), but I wouldn't have minded a darker, more magical vision. Maybe Del Toro is the man. I should say that, in spite of the above criticism, I think that Jackson did an amazing job, possibly the best job that can be done on such a labyrinthine book.