suesmith3
This movie had superb acting talent across about 2.5 generations of actors- and all of this talent is just wasted.The writing is poor, disjointed and does not tell either a good overall story or good individual stories. Slow, boring, bad. A real waste of talent.I do not know what the budget was but it had to be small. Still with Danner & company the results should have been much better. The viewer is dragged through a bunch off scenes that do not connect with each other at all. Don't waste your time.
emd5w4
Nothing really to spoil, as there's hardly any plot to speak of. Knowing that in advance actually made it bearable to watch clear through. The title doesn't seem to fit, and my local Hollywood Video had it under Mystery & Suspense (probably because of the word "fingerprints"), with an M sticker on the spine, instead of D for Drama where it belongs. Everyone mumbles their lines, and I didn't care enough about the characters to rewind even once; for anyone still curious about this film, I recommend turning on the closed captioning, if you have the option. That said, THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS has 3 things going for it: (1) casting Noah Wyle and Michael Vartan as brothers; (2) the subplot with Julianne Moore's character and the book. (How could her dad *do* that to a book??); And best of all, (3) the Rufus Wainwright song near the end. By far the best thing about this movie, as it introduced me to his music!
Michael O'Keefe
Noah Wyle, of TVs ER, plays a young man than returns home after several years for a Thanksgiving reunion of his dysfunctional upper-class family. The weekend is marred by unresolved issues. Conflict, rage, guilt, animosity and apathy cloud the incompatible gathering. Heavy weight drama written and directed by Bart Freundlich. Passions simmer and there is very little people pleasing skills applied.Along with the very good acting of Wyle is Julianne Moore. Also cast stand outs are Blythe Danner, Roy Scheider, Laurel Holloman and Christopher Duva. Skip your twelve step meeting and watch this. It works if you work it.
David Ferguson
Greetings again from the darkness. Caught this one on IFC and was really impressed with the ensemble cast. Especially great work from Julianne Moore, who's role in lesser hands would have crushed the film. Beautifully shot in Maine, the scenery and warm home almost lull you into normalcy. However, the characters shock you into the ultimate dysfunctional family. No warm holiday fuzzies here. A couple of great scenes with Noah Wylie. First, with him alone in bed, while everyone else in the house is "intimately involved". Also, a flashback scene showing a moment of true weakness with his father, and the subsequent 3 years of guilt he carries. Good stuff. My tidbit on this one involves the tangled web of the cast and crew. "Roseanne" series ties together 3 of the actors, while Julianne Moore and Laurel Holloman worked together on "Boogie Nights". Also director Bart Freundlich and Moore parented a child together. Aah, the close knit fabric on independent filmmaking! Worth a rental.
AD
