Starting out in the Evening

Frank Langella plays a washed up novelist who's earlier success seems forgotten by all but an ambitious grad student who insinuates herself into his staid life. The writer's daughter is played by Lily Taylor and she becomes increasingly concerned about the grad student's influence over her father. I thought maybe this would be a movie my parents might enjoy. Within 10 minutes of the movie my mother said, "I don't like that girl!" about the Lauren Ambrose grad student character. I had to leave to finish the movie later and both parents decided they would be happy not finishing it and leaving me to tell them what happened. I did finish it and liked it more at the end but still found it lacking, lacking in some heart or something. Lily Taylor's character was the most interesting. I love Lauren Ambrose from Six Feet Under, but, I guess I agree with my mother, she was annoying in this movie. Oh well, I don't know why I feel I have see every movie that's either about a writer or has actor's I like when it really isn't very good, but then I can tell YOU about it.

Evening

I just saw Evening based on a book by Susan Minot. The movie received terrible reviews but has a stellar cast: Merril Streep (with a brief part) and her daughter, Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Natasha Richardson, Toni Collette, and the super cute Hugh Dancy just to name a few. But the big draw for me is Claire Danes. Even though the movie is pretty scholcky, soap operaesque and all over the place, it is still fun to watch her. Worth seeing? Probably not -- unless you like watching great actresses in a kinda dumb movie.