I thought I would love this movie because I love Turner but I keep ...
357745
I thought I would love this movie because I love Turner but I keep finding myself asking "is there a theme here, anywhere?"
641127
A physically beautiful movie with wonderful cinematography, solid acting and memorable performances, "Mr. Turner" tells the story of a famed British artist during the period of the early to mid 1800s. While not a documentary, the story is essentially biographical and meanders from event to event depicting Turner's somewhat sad and solitary life. What the film lacks is any coherent moving story line; it basically rambles from event to event with no clear connection between them. I kept waiting for the story to stitch some coherence together, but sadly, that never happens.

Timothy Spall - who is best know for playing Ron Weasley's rat - Peter Pettigrew - provides a stellar performance throughout the piece making Mr. Turner who is taciturn and abrupt, a very human character.

After viewing the film, I was drawn to look up more about J.M.W. Turner and learned many things that were not revealed in the film. So, perhaps if you are an art buff and knew these things about Turner and his life, it may have made the film more interesting.
812897
I have always loved little people movies and this one has a special place in my heart, but I wish it was cheaper I would really like to buy it.
The pooka is pretty scarey and because I was pretty young when I first watched this, I thought they were going to put the grandpa in a nursing home and that scared me too.
40330
I must've been in a very romantic mood when I first saw this movie...thought I would recapture the feeling by watching it again..little disappointed.  I will give it another chance.
3163028
I rented this movie based on the 30 mostly positive reviews on Amazon regarding this film and seeing the preview of this film on youtube. What I expected to see was a passionate love story about an unhappy, sexually unfilled middle aged married straight woman who falls in love with a gorgeous call girl (what I imagined to be a lesbian version of Pretty Woman.) What I got instead was seeing a stepdad rape his daughter; not enough character development of the leads (especially Paris the call girl); some red herrings on the what was really going on with 'Rebecca', and a very sad and depressing ending (which is the exact opposite of "A Perfect Ending" imho.)  I wasn't expecting an unhappy ending, which is not 'A Perfect Ending' in my book

While I adored the (1) love scenes; (3) the incredibly gorgeous Jessica Clark who plays Paris the call girl; and (3) the divine Barbara Niven who plays Rebecca, the cliched script, direction, and over-loud soundtrack for this film couldn't overcome its assets.

I am very happy I rented this film so I didn't have to buy a $20 DVD that I never would have watched after the 1st showing.  If you want to see 'a perfect(ly) happy ending' to a lesbian film, watch -- When Night is Falling, Imagine Me and You, Elena Undone, or Kiss Me (a Swedish film).
1133833
I borrowed my sister in laws DVD of this movie cause everyone told me how romantic it was. What they neglectecd to inform me was that it was an emotional roller coaster through out the movie in which I wanted to kick my tv, plus I didn't know I'd need to watch it with a whole box of tissues. I was either mad or cried throughout the entire movie! But I figured it was ok as long as it had a happy ending. I'm not gonna say too much there for those of you who hasn't see it yet, but what the heck was that ending about? That was soooo sad I was blubbering like a baby. Needless to say, after the movie I was so upset I actually threw the remote  control. I have now boycotted the movie from my house. A little drastic you say? Not to somebody who used an entire box of kleenex throughout the movie. In closing, hated the movie! Watch at your own risk. (and with tissues)
602927
I wanted to love the movie.  It spent too much time in the destructive past in my opinion.  It only needed one or two scenes to establish this and then focus on the evolution of her hike and ultimately of her as a person.  I think it undershot the opportunity for scenic shots and the emotional tug from all of the untangling of the twisted past in her head.  2 stars for missing what it could have been.
871542
Boy, I wanted to like this movie.  The professional reviewers had prepared me to think that this movie was at the head of it's class when it came to the theater.  Bill Nighy is rightfully praised for stealing the movie and with a cast that includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Liam Neeson, what could go wrong?
For starters there was the "cute" idea that a couple who serve as body doubles in a porno movie would actually be shy and have difficulty communicating to each other that they really were attracted to one another in between the times that they were naked and bringing their private parts together.  When the first of these many scenes appeared on the screen a white-haired couple seated in front of the Mrs and myself walked out.  We were not offended enough to leave, but these scenes were unfortunately not particularly engaging or believable either.
Then there is the cute notion of the assistant to the Prime Minister of England who is commonly given to firing off language that my mother (and I bet your mother too) would call vulgar, he he, whenever the Prime Minister happens to be just coming in the door.  This is aside from the notion that her character is a full generation younger than he, yet they are *destined* to be together.
Has anyone else seen too many "Romantic Comedies" that end with one of the characters (usually the female) leaving (usually forever) their male love interest by heading towards an airport, only to have their true love come crashing towards that plane to catch them at the last second?  That cliche was ALREADY too old for me, and to see it trotted out again by having Liam Neeson's pre-pubescent son rushing through the airport after his pre-pubescent sweetie made me groan.
Bill Nighy runs away with his scenes, and the sub-plot with Colin Firth and the Italian house girl was fairly satisfying, though predictable.
In short - there are some eight or so stories going on here at once, and only about half are believable or interesting, while a few would shock your Mom so badly she'd faint.
1209223
I had such high hopes for this film that were quickly dashed after watching the movie. Perhaps if Ridley Scott made the move it would have been better. So so acting (and I like Clive Owen and Keira Knightley) but they couldn't save this film.
1838904
I bought this film expecting a movie that would be at least as good as the previous one, and it turns out that was a mistake. I loved the first one, and I wanted to like this, but bad writing killed that for me, as well as some really big plot holes. Maybe the next one will be better. I'll be sure to rent it first though.
2584225
I had heard a lot of good things about this film, and I like Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Gyllenhaal does a great job at playing two distinct characters that happen to look identical. The subtle nuances between the two are very well done.

However, the movie is so heavy with symbolic meanings that it bogs down the flow of the movie. Many times, scenes just seem to drag under the weight of all the symbolism. The visual tone of the film seemed really bleak, too.

I don't mind a slow burn but this film just didn't do much for me.
3340766
This movie is one of those that left me feeling unsatisfied. I was re-writing the story as it went. It ended up feeling like a TV movie to me. This movie could have been great but fell short for me. The story never let the love story grow, it cut it off prematurely and was over the top sad. It did get my creative juices flowing though, makes me want to go and write my own fictional story.
2985710
I was disappointed in this movie myself.  It has a great idea of focusing on the fa mk Ilya without the distraction of modern gadgets, but it takes a strange turn. It's a clean family movie. Children would probably enjoy it. It just wasn't exactly what I expected.
2196688
I had higher hopes for this movie but it was borderline ridiculous to be honest with you.
1928873
I first found out of this movie from Bloodydisgusting web site and I read what is was about so I was convinced,  This is a awful film because of the subject of incest and child Pornography which has that subject in this movie.  I am giving it 5 stars because it is a controversial subject to me and how it was done in this film.  I did buy it but after that I traded it in for credit because I felt so dirty after watching this that I just could not keep it with me.  This type of movie was insane and just awful to watch for me.  I also must say I am a sucker for movies that are controversial and the more they are out there in the subject the better that is why I wanted to see it.
4379067
I decided to watch this movie based on the description, the actors, and the decent reviews.  I am reviewing this movie because I found it to be a complete disappointment.  I came to this movie with the knowledge of it being based on a well-received book, but I have not read it.  My opinion is based solely on the movie.

The movie was beautifully made.  The setting, the people, the costumes.  I found that all to be believable and it pulled me into the movie.  Initially there were parts I liked and parts I had to suspend belief a bit to watch, but I do not have a problem with that.  If I like a movie, I like it.  It doesn't matter if it got poor reviews or if I understand why others don't like it.  So I kept watching.  Warning:  Spoilers to follow.  Don't read further if you don't want to know what happens.

Here are some of the problems I had with the movie.  Each on their own I may have been able to look past, or even a couple, but when put together, it was just too much.  A man can smell a perfume and recreate it IN SECONDS, grabbing CLOSED BOTTLES of essences from around a large room without pause, even though these bottles are clustered with countless others.  He pours these essences in the proper quantities and shakes them together, voila, identical perfumes.  This same man thinks he can preserve the odor of a cat by basically boiling the cat.  Having seen blood and death, it never occurs to him that the scent will change from the living cat to the dead, cooked cat.  The man, trying to follow a woman who smells good to him, figured out that she left town, and what direction she went in, simply by waking and breathing.  From what was apparently miles away.  In open countryside.  So incredible is this man that, using the scent of over a dozen women (now dead), he was able to release a few drops of this incredible perfume, turning an angry mob, screaming for his death because of all the women he murdered, into a mass of people who now saw him as an angel and proceeded to have sex in a courtyard with the person nearest them, no matter how unlikely the match.  They then all went to sleep there or passed out while he escaped.

The man journeys to the place he was born, which he found by smell, because apparently the place smelled exactly the same as it did when he formed the memory as a newborn.  He then douses himself with the rest of the fragrance, entrancing a smaller group of people (huh? really?) who are so taken by the fragrance that they CONSUME him on the spot.  Yes.  They ate him.

I honestly expected to be mildly disappointed that this was a dream just before his death.  My disappointment was so much greater when I saw that this is supposedly what happened.  I was willing to accept everything up until he created a scent that was able to enchant people the way it did.  I can honestly say out of all the movies I have seen, plenty that I liked and a fair number I did not, this would have to be the very last movie I would recommend to anybody.

Again, I did not read the book, and it is entirely possible I would feel differently.  If you haven't read the book and you've made it this far in my review, well, you've been warned.
1788577
I really wanted to like this movie.  I mean, romance and scenic vistas are two things I typically really like in a movie.  However, I just found the movie too slow.  I really couldn't nurse up much identification /sympathy with the main characters.  Maybe if I would have grown up in a small town?  There were some redeeming qualities to this movie. Some of the scenes between the two men were really touching. I thought the movie improved greatly after the poet left and the main character (I can't remember his name) experienced some self discovery.  However, it took to long, in my opinion, for the movie to get to this point.
Overall, I would say this movie is worth suffering through for the last 20 minutes or so of self realization, but just barely.