Music from Another Room (1998)
I like how everyone in this movie is fleshed out enough to feel like a real character (not real people, mind you, but it's something), even the ones who only have one or two lines and no names. It makes them all feel like they have their own reality and aren't just supporting roles in the main romance of the film. Unfortunately, this is a double edged sword as it means the whole thing has a really uneven quality because some of these characters are way more interesting than others, and they don't even all fit in the same movie. What is up with Jane Adams' character, for example? She's in a completely different universe and I don't even know why some of her scenes are in this movie the one where she shoots her husband is bizarre. Sure, it's set up with a prior scene, but it still feels completely detached from everything else, it's the kind of thing you expect in a deleted scene, not a finished movie. Plimpton's character is a tad more grounded, but also somewhat out of place. They both feel like half baked comedic relief ideas that got fleshed out but never fully humanized. The smaller characters are great, though, like the parents and the baker, would have enjoyed a movie with more of them. The center of the film is Jude Law and Gretchen Mol, and they are fine. The story went in exactly the directions I didn't want it to go and neither of them really sells their character arcs, so it's not at all my kind of romance story but they're ok. The big redeeming factor is Jennifer Tilly's arc. She's the real heart of the film and it'd be much better if the film was about her and not Jude Law. She has the most genuine moments and a lovely romantic arc that I would have loved to have seen developed more deeply. I saw a glimpse there of a great movie, and it made the one I was watching feel inferior. For example the scene with the bike riding is patently absurd, as far fetched as anything in the lead story, but it's sold so well by both actors that it works emotionally in a way the ending doesn't at all.