Personal Effects (2009)

Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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.

The idea of watching Anton Kutcher in a dramatic role, a stretch for this actor, came in the way of "Personal Effects", a story about grieving that serves to unite two people that have suffered by the loss of loved ones. The film by David Hollander is based on a short story by Rick Moody, whose novel, "The Ice Storm", got a good adaptation for the cinema some years ago. Mr. Hollander wrote the screenplay for what appears was a vehicle for Mr. Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer.Walter is a college wrestler whose loss of his sister proves to be a big burden for him. He becomes relentless in his pursuit to bring the killer to get the punishment he deserves, but the justice system does nothing to mitigate his pain. At the same time, Linda, a single mother, is part of the victim's support group where Walter and his mother Gloria go to seek closure, while the trial for the sister and the husband is in progress in court, simultaneously.Linda also is coping with a deaf mute teenager, Clay, who is being bullied at a sort of school for troubled youths, where he goes. Walter steps in to help Clay, without any ulterior motive, just out of his own sense of fair play. Clay is grateful even when his mother and Walter begin a torrid affair. This troubled young man will ultimately come to help Walter in an unsolicited way that could have been fatal and that lands Clay in a sort of reform facility."Personal Effects" keeps the viewer's attention. Director David Hollander's staging of this basically bleak film, shows not too inspired in the way he sets the drama. Anton Kutcher looks a bit awkward out of his usual comedy roles, but one can forgive him for his courageous effort to mature into more dramatic characters. Michelle Pfeiffer, even at fifty looks gorgeous. Her Linda is not perhaps one of the best things she has done in her long career. Kathy Bates, playing Gloria is an after thought, for she has not much to do. On the other hand, young Spencer Hudson shows a promise in his debut as Clay.

Decent movie, but I found myself lost in several areas. I was not impressed with synopsis surrounding Ashton Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer's characters. It was weak in many areas, personal relationship, where the characters drew their strength and weaknesses from. I found myself being bored in many parts, and had to come back to the storyline several times to keep my interest intact. Kathy Bates did very well with the limited material provided, and understood some of the areas where humor was included and needed. I was more impressed with Aleks Paunovic and Spencer Hudson, and would like to have seen their characters expanded much more in the movie. It's a shame, and I would have rated it higher were this the case. Paunovic and Hudson appear to be excellent actors!

Personal Effects was filmed in the Vancouver BC area. It was bad enough that the story of this drama was sad & dreary, The weather in the film was equally sad & dreary.I have no objection to a sad, dreary story, BUT there should some light moments, to relieve the tension for the audienceDavid Hollander in his first theatre film, directed & wrote the screenplay,which was taken from a short story by, Rick Moody.The film may have been from a short story BUT it is a very long 110 minute movie.Now we come to the acting, contrary to what others have said. the performances are all first rate, even tho they all have to tend with grief.Ashton Kutcher who usually does romantic comedy is excellent, I believed he was grief stricken. Michelle Pfeiffer is equally excellent as a recent widow & the mother of a deaf mute 20 (or so) year old lad. Spencer Hudson is the lad & this is his first role, a very fine debut. Kathy Bates is Ashtons's equally grief stricken mother.I do not think there is one so called happy person cast.All this good acting does not make up for the dreariness of the script.The movie was released direct to DVD. I was disappointed.Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 73 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 out of 10)

Where to start? The storyline is creepy. The pace of the movie is uneven and painfully slow. Kutcher needs to stick to light comedy. To top it off, the undertone of 25 year-old-boy-with-older-woman is downright distracting. The sex scenes (while not explicit) are so gratuitous the only explanation is they were put there to qualify for a chance at the Sundance award.Michele Michelle Pfeiffer was apparently so uninterested, she did not bother to learn sign language, which as the mother of a deaf son; you would expect her to know.There are HUGE gaps in the storyline line leaving you scratching your head. Kutcher is out of his league in the midst of Pfeiffer & Kathleen Bates he ought to be embarrassed.Thank God we only paid $1.00 at a Red Box Rental. I think the studios still owe me $2.00 in gas money for the trip to and fro....In short, awful way an understatement….Oh, and did I mention its predictability?