Acorn-2
This is a very fine film, one I very nearly missed because of my disdain for Demi Moore. But I was wrong. Director Alain Berliner gives her both the safe space and the restraint that she needs to go beyond herself and produce by far the best performance of her career (of the films I have seen).With a very fine ensemble cast including Willaim Fichtner, Stellan Skårsgard, Joss Ackland, Sinead Cusack and Peter Riegert, this film offers a delicate exploration of questions central to human psychology and the interaction of our inner and outer lives.Beautifully photographed by Eduardo Serra and surprisingly well-written by Hollywood regular Ron Bass and relative neophyte David Field, this film at first appears to be heading for typical "Women's Film" territory, but Berliner and the writers put a wholly original, subtly crafted spin on it that makes it anything but predictable and ordinary.I have a complete review of the film up at my website: www.thenedpages.com - then click on "critical analysis" and pick it off the list of reviews.
esteban1747
An interesting argument in a very slow film, which seems to be more French than an American made one. You must see carefully the first scenes to follow the proposed plot. If you do not that you will be certainly lost by mid of the film. Even though you will be in doubt regarding the real personality of Marie/Martha Marie 'Marty' Talmadge (Demi Moore). Whom she really loved? it was a mystery.
sddavis63
Demi Moore is a very beautiful woman, and once again she proves that beauty alone cannot carry a movie. I've seen many of her movies, and only one of them really stands out to me as one that's worth watching more than once, and that's "A Few Good Men" - but it's worth watching for Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Demi is basically window-dressing there."Passion of Mind" is typical Demi stuff. She has a troubled life as Marie/Marty - troubled because she isn't sure which one she really is; one life is a dream, the other reality. As Marie, she's a mother of two in France, as Marty she's a high powered literary agent in New York. Then in both lives she falls in love: in France with William (Stellan Skarsgård) and in New York with Aaron (William Fichtner.) The movie at times is confusing as she shifts from one life to another (which is all right, because it surely points to the confusion she has herself in trying to sort out reality from fantasy) and although there are hints from the very beginning as to which life is real (I took a guess that turned out to be right almost right away, but it was a guess) it does remain a mystery until the end. The last fifteen minutes or so of the movie add the needed emotional heart-wrencher as she says good-bye to those in her fantasy world and prepares for life in reality.All fine. The primary problem with the movie is that Demi is living out two lives, neither one of which - quite honestly - are all that interesting, and which, as a result, don't make for particularly interesting viewing. In the end, this is a pretty standard Demi Moore movie. She doesn't offer a particularly energetic performance, but she's OK, and the movie isn't particularly good, but it isn't awful either.5/10
LT-10
The film gives us some pretty neat ideas to think about, where does reality end? The first movie I've seen on the subject and it was worth it.Some people will call Passion of Mind slow, but really their suffering from being over Hollywood-ised and don't realize the have a very small attention span. The term "thriller" is too harsh for this movie in my opinion. The movie isn't action filled, but it doesn't need to be. The story is enough to keep the audience interested or at least the only audience that will truly appreciate it. Even though this movie didn't get much attention, this was a smart movie for Demi Moore. It shows she isn't a Hollywood vehicle that will just take anything, this is a cleverly crafted story. I respect her greatly for doing this movie. Also, the rest of the cast is great. The France scenes have been shot beautifully, really good work here. Also, the film ends greatly. The perfect ending for this movie, I was worried as I watched the movie that maybe the ending would be too simple, but it worked out fine. See it.
AD
