Lalpera An ideal example how great talents are wasted in a bad directorial job! I have not read the book, because I don't read books, so don't know what was in the book. I can only say that there must have been a great story-line but which is wasted and ruined. Some actors did a pretty good job but others didn't. Exceptional one is Hugh Dancy who played Buddy. He is amazingly alive in his character and outperforms everyone else. If only his character didn't die early but spread over the entire story length, the movie would certainly earn more merit points. Patrick Wilson plays Harris quite well, giving due resilience and soberness to the character. Claire plays Anne very well too and sometimes competes really strong with Buddy's character. Mamie Gummer does a good job too as Lila. The most disappointing character is Nina's character played by Tony Collette which is really a disaster! Her performance is very annoying, so synthetic, unnatural and lifeless. She is the biggest misfit in this movie! Her boyfriend's character reflects a real joker and her sister reminds us of a zombie! Alas, the main character, old Anne played by Vanessa is not impressive either. Her performance is just painful and torturing rather than a character reflecting a glamorous youth although torn between her best friend and her charming dream man.But there are other positive sides so you have not totally wasted your time. Undoubtedly the most attractive feature of the movie is its really beautiful music by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. I must say this is one of the best 5 scores I've ever encountered in movies. It's so melancholic, pensive and unforgettable! You will be amazed at the way he conducts the piano and violins to bring that sorrowful feeling which not only runs throughout the movie, but your soul too. Cinematography is the other most beautiful feature of this movie that captures few of the most spellbinding sceneries of our time. It blends quite fittingly and nicely with the music that leaves lingering emotions in your mind for a very, very long time!However, in the end you feel disappointed that director Lajos has failed to identify the good ones from the bad stuff. He also fails sometimes to knit the scenes together to achieve a constant, seamless flow. There is enough great acting, music and cinematography to make it a great movie if he eliminated bad actors and did a good job in editing. But he has lost a golden opportunity to make a great movie out of some great talents.

Adam Miller Here are some of the ideas it heralds and attempts to reinforce for the sake of entertainment:It is important to have children because that is how real love comes.Having a child will help me/others to be happy because then I will be a mother/father/aunt/etc. which is more fulfilling than not being a mother/father/aunt/etc.There is no such thing as a completely fulfilling relationship. People are naturally, intrinsically isolated and lonely. It is normal.If I don't have a family I will be lost and lonely.The happiest I can be is when I am in love.A love affair will make me unhappy because it ends. It is inevitable that one is unfulfilled.Ultimately you can't have what you want and you will never be truly happy.You will die unfulfilled which is fine as long as you have children; who ideally are about to have their own children.All of this is part of life's rich pattern. Suffering is beautiful.

Danusha_Goska Save Send Delete What a cast. Every actress we've ever loved, short of Judy Garland, Bette Davis, and Greta Garbo is in this movie. And yet "Evening" is an awful mess. It's so bad, so inept, so misguided, such a betrayal of the acting talent of its stars, that, after forcing myself to sit through it, I wish I had never seen it. It's that much of a godawful botch and betrayal of its precious material.The production values are very high. The film takes place in two time periods: the 1950s and the present day. The costumes, make-up, and vintage cars are perfect. The lighting, cinematography, and sets are perfect.I blame the writer. The script is incoherent, pointless, and, worse, graceless. There is not one happy moment of verbal magic, or even just a moment where words do any kind of meaningful work whatsoever. What was he thinking? Really? I want to know.I feel a sense of personal betrayal by this movie. This is very much a woman's story (and I'm a woman) and a story of family (and I'm part of a family) and a story of class conflict (something familiar to me) and a story of living large and dying thoughtfully (I've been with the dying as they were working out the complicated narratives of their lives.) All these themes were handled so hamhandedly by the writer I just want to scream.Hugh Dancy, as Buddy, a badly behaved rich boy, somehow manages to rise above the wreckage, and deliver the film's one coherent character, and the one character who manages to arouse some emotion in the viewer. Toni Collette never makes a wrong move, but she's given nothing by the writer. Clare Danes comes off badly.I recommend that you *not* see this movie. Rewatch almost anything else, from "Beaches" to "Terms of Endearment" to "Sliding Doors" to "Letter from an Unknown Woman."

gkeith_1 Movie observations: Buddy was cute; wealthy and so lovable. Patrick Wilson a hunk, especially remembering him from Little Children and that scene in the laundry room with Kate Winslet. Also he was the wonderful guy in Phantom of the Opera movie. And who was that old, white-haired guy the father of the bride? None other than old Brad from Rocky Horror, he of the black rimmed glasses and jockey shorts. I had to look three times to see that it was him, and oh the shock of his elderliness -- Barry Bostwick. Claire Danes I remember from Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo di Caprio. Vanessa Redgrave, she of Queen Guinevere in Camelot -- whatever happened to Franco Nero? The night nurse: the beautiful white spangled strapless evening gown. Mamie Gummer giving a good cry on the bed, on the day of her ill-matched wedding to the non-hunk Carl (Karl?). Meryl Streep, quite a different character than as a country singer in that Garrison Keillor movie (I can't think of its name). Loved the regal old cars in this movie; these automobiles/limousines that would only belong to the wealthy. Seeing the old-time clothes and hats brought back a lot of memories. Redgrave good in her American accent, being British; she is the daughter of a very famous English actor Michael Redgrave. A very good cast; I have enjoyed the movie. Scenery breathtaking and beautiful.