Kindly Reviewed by John Richard
Release Dates
Australia: 14th June, 2012 USA: 29th June 2012 UK 17th August 2012
Other Countries: Release Dates
Perth West Australian FilmGoers: Click here for Luna Palace Website session times
Release Dates
Australia: 14th June, 2012 USA: 29th June 2012 UK 17th August 2012
Perth West Australian FilmGoers: Click here for Luna Palace Website session times
Canadian
Sarah Polley both wrote and directed Take
This Waltz. Perhaps better known as
an actor, Sarah [she started her career as a child actor] has in recent years
given her audiences fine films as both a director and screen writer. Is Take
This Waltz one of those ‘fine’ films?
To some degree it is but overall there is a feeling of being let
down. The cast is fine, the film quality
good, vocal audio not so good and the music augments the story.
Take This Waltz
tells the story of a young married couple Margot and Lou Rubin. Lou (played by Seth Rogen, The Green Hornet) is well settled into
married life and writes cook books specialising in ways to cook chicken. His wife Margot (Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain) appears to have no
work other than being an aspiring writer although we experience little effort
in that direction. The married life
routine which Lou has settled into does not suit Margot quite as well. On a short trip to Montreal, Margot meets
Daniel (Luke Kirby, Cra$h & Burn
TV) an aspiring artist. They meet again
on a plane returning to their hometown and progress to cautiously flirt. They
share a taxi ride to their respective homes only to find that they live across
the street from each other. During the
taxi ride Margot informs Daniel that she is married.
We
are taken through the daily lives of Margot and Lou and increasingly sense that
Margot is bored and discontented. Lou’s
little asides and word-games were earlier in the relationship viewed by Margot
as being loving and cute, yet now she participates less enthusiatically. We see Margot spending more time looking
across the street as she watches Daniel’s comings and goings. To support himself Daniel operates a rickshaw
around the city streets. On one occasion
as Daniel arrives home Margot meets him and visits his studio/apartment. Daniel shows her some of his artwork, some of
which she finds disturbing. Although she
beats a hasty retreat on this occasion she remains drawn to Daniel and
continues to flirt with him and seek out opportunities to meet.
Lou’s
extended family; mother, sister, and brother-in-law feature in family
gatherings and show that Margot is a part of that grouping and treated as one
of them. She has an endearing
relationship with a young niece. Aside
from these moments the relationship between Margot and Lou slowly
disintegrates. Margot spends more time
away from home and invariably finds herself in the company of Daniel who
pursues her relentlessly promising a life wildly different from that with Lou.
Not
unexpectedly Margot leaves Lou and sets out to live with Daniel. Lou cannot comprehend why she departs, but
continues on with his life by completing and publishing his book. They meet again as part of the family
group. This time not for a celebration,
but for the resolution of a problem involving Lou’s sister. Take part in resolving the problem does not
reconcile Margot with Lou, she leaves him at his front door and returns to
Daniel.
Life
with Daniel involves parties, fun, sexual exploration of various types, but
like all lives it settles into a routine.
It is at that point where Margot again succumbs to boredom. She still does not appear to be working, we
no longer see her at her computer and the scene closes with Margot staring into
the distance while leaning against an oven waiting for her cup-cakes to bake. It was at that point that the 1960s song “Is that all there is?” would have been
an appropriate theme to reflect Margot’s disenchantment.
The
film presents a theme previously explored by other writers and directors, the
interplay between a couple and a third party.
The story has been told in a better manner by others and Take This Waltz does not add to previous
attempts or set out to excel these. The
characters are well cast. Seth Rogen and
Luke Kirby submit pleasing performances.
Michelle Williams reprises, in many ways, a role she has played before
and appears to play her part by the numbers.
I was concerned that my hearing was less than adequate until other
audience members commented that Williams was very difficult to understand and
parts of her dialogue were near inaudible.
It
is clear that Sarah Polley invested time and effort into bringing this story to
the screen; the locations are well-selected; the direction is good; and, the
music assists in the mood of the film.
The overall result is a film that, although pleasing, does little to add
to the viewer’s experience of storytelling via the medium of the cinema.
Thank you to John Richard for this review.
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