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Conversations With
Other Women
Directed by: Hans Canosa
Starring: Aaron Eckhart
Genre:
Romance
Run Time: 84
min.
Release Date:
August 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
There are several things
that are vital and basic to the importance of a successful film. First
is the screenplay. Then acting. Then sets. The further down the list we
go, the less important the items are to the success of the movie. But if
you screw up too many of the latter items, the earlier ones begin to
falter because of them, and this is why CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER
WOMEN failed as an entertainment venue.
The screenplay was well done, focusing on two people with no names
(“Man” played by Aaron Eckhart and “Woman” by Helena Bonham Carter).
They “meet” at a wedding in Los Angeles and sexual sparks begin flying.
Man makes several flirting attempts and Woman knocks him down. But Man
persists and eventually succeeds in getting to Woman’s hotel room. Here
we begin to suspect and learn much about this pair. They are not
strangers and have a destructive relationship from years before. In the
end, Woman must fly back to London in the morning while Man returns to
his much younger girlfriend.
The acting of Eckhart and Carter is admirable and their line deliveries
are pithy, funny, and often heart-wrenching.
Where we come into problems is on almost every other level of the film.
First we have to mention the title of the film, Conversations With
Other Women. Titles are important to viewers. They help tie the
story being told with what’s been advertised. But this title has
absolutely nothing to do with the story, as there is only one woman and
they do much more than simply converse.
Once we enter the hotel room, the sets become very dark and almost
grainy. The sex scene is practically non-existent and very forced.
And finally we have to look at the entire film being done in split
screen. The big question is why? Doing art for the sake of art is
ridiculous and many viewers may come away feeling as if director Hans
Canosa used this medium simply to create “something different.” That’s
bad. Very bad. This may not have been Canosa’s intention, but it
certainly comes off feeling that way. It added a major distraction to
the enjoyment of the film rather than giving it any sense of
originality.
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Image from Conversations
With Other Women
DVD cost: $9.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
An editor was initially
hired to cut the movie. After putting together an assembly, the editor
quit, citing the difficulties of editing for the two frames. The
director, who had never cut a film before, learned to use Final Cut
editing software and became the editor.
Movie Quote: "You
could say that I had a history with one of the other guests."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Conversations With Other Women
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