The Price of Milk (2000)

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the warmest worlds I visit is the expanded world of Spanish extrareality. It is supported by a whole class of intelligent artists. Though it is potentially rich we usually have this world delivered in order to surround sex in some way not usually available.I find myself wishing for other filmmakers to use this -- what is usually called magical realism -- in different ways.Hal Hartley, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin, even early Cronenberg Maddin made me hope that a Canadian tradition would sustain a second tradition, one with more powerful emotional abstractions not so dependent on genitals.Here in New Zealand films, I may have discovered another possible home for my constructive retreats.This little film tries all sorts of magical things. That they often are unsuccessful and often have no connective logic makes them more attractive, more engaging. All the magic here is cinematic, every device.Three shots were pretty memorable. One had a long red silk fabric train while our actress walked diagonally across the bright green hill we were by then familiar with. One was when we re-enter the world of physical touch that we had hoped for. Her hand appears from nowhere to caress his head. Very rewarding.The third is of a different order. I won't describe it in detail but it is the payoff, built up through many images. It is of a young woman reaching for the shod foot of a toddler sticking out of a cloud and not quite reachable. Its really quite lovely. The woman in question is truly a striking actress, Danielle Cormack, who seems to limit herself to local indie films and stupid TeeVee. Well, she is one of the best mouth actresses I have seen.I really liked this. It seems to be a voyage through womanhood for men, and I learned.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

This is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen all year. The chemistry between Karl Urban and Danelle Cormack was beautiful. Visually it was captivating. The characters were entertaining, engaging, and memorable. I especially loved the dog suffering from agoraphobia and the mysterious Jacksons. Some people may find it hard to follow what is going on as people appear and disappear, and they not understand some for the random things in the movie such as a bath tub in the middle of a field. the all of the quirks and the random moments give this movie an emotionally full filling and magical feel. At the end I was left with a smile and a full heart.

Harry Sinclair's spontaneity as a director allows life to shine through in every frame. Not an expensive movie, nor a polished one, as many fairy-tales are not, but true in its emotional insight into what real love costs: everything that is dear to you. Having your own way in the heat of anger. Letting people treat you as less than what you are. Giving way to uncertainty because making that stand is just too frightening. And then, taking it all, the risks, letting magic in. Karl Urban and Danielle Cormack are delightful as the Farmer in the Dell and Rapunzel, thrown together into a New Zealand Maori-laced tale with soundtrack by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. You could find flaws in this movie, but why? It's good for your heart. You'll know it in your bones.

This movie is adorable. I would recommend it to anyone who likes unashamed fantasy/love stories. All the actors are charming and funny. "TPOM" is colorful, well-written, downright silly at times, and even weird enough for people who like that sort of thing.