The Safety of Objects (2003)

Absolutely the worst movie.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The Safety Of Objects tries so hard to get it's point across,it started to become annoying after a bit. Half of the characters in this film,are so selfish,I couldn't relate to any of them,in fact the only one,was Glenn Close's,and even she was somewhat selfish. All of the characters in this movie,either have something tragic happened to them,or they are having,relationship problems,and they all connect to each other at one point,or another. I'll go over the stories.Glenn Close-Esther. Loses her son to a coma,in a ghastly accident. Grief stricken over the loss, she's not herself,and tries to please her daughter as much as possible. At times I felt for her,she was a good mom,and god knows,plenty of mothers would act that way,and rightfully so. It's just,she came across,as a bit cold,during her conversations with her son in the coma. She gives the best performance in the film,by far though,she is often a revelation.Dermot Mulroney-Jim. Thinks his wife may be cheating on him,while stressing out,over not getting the promotion,he had yearned for. Dermot is not a favorite of mine, i'll get that out in the open, right now. Dermot though, gives a solid show here. We feel for him,as the family man.Patricia Clarkson-Annette. Has a pair of troubled daughters. One is mentally troubled,while the other,is a 12 year old smoker,who looks very much like a young boy,while having an ex husband,who is rarely around. It's also revealed,she's had a romance with Paul, the coma victim. Patricia is an excellent actress,and here is no different. I would rank her 3rd,as the most sympathetic. She tried hard as the mother,and I often felt for her,but the film didn't give me much reason, to care for her.Joshua Jackson-Paul is the victim of an unfortunate car accident,who ends up in a bad coma. His performance is nothing to brag about, to be honest. He spends a good portion of the film,in a coma,he's only shown,in flashback scenes.Timothy Olyphant-Randy. Is the friend of Paul,who lost somebody,in the tragic accident,who can't seem to get over it. Timothy is a very underrated actor, at times. Here he puts on a very good show. His scenes with Kristen ,are very well done.Jessica Campbell-Julie. Is the sexually frustrated daughter,who has relationship troubles, with her mom. She gave a pretty good performance,but I found her character to be very unsympathetic,until the end.Mary Kay Place-Helen. Is a health obsessed woman,with deep problems. Her performance,could've been over the top, thankfully she did pretty well, for the most part.Kristen Stewart-Sam. Is 12 year old smoker,who looks like a boy. At 12 years old, Kristen shows a remarkable amount of poise, and talent. We feel for her in the situation.Alex House-Jake. Is obsessed with a doll. He managed to do quite well for his age, I was pleasantly surprised.Bottom Line. Safety Of Objects, is a curious misfire. It's certainly interesting at points, but it's much too depressing, and soap Operaish too work fully. It has too many unsympathetic characters,to be fully effective. Worth a look, but don't get yourself hyped up over it.6/10

I just watched this film for the first time today, and i can't believe, that I missed this the first time around. It was truly a well acted, and controversial motion picture, much in the tradition of CRASH. The four families whose lives are impacted by a series of events, tell the story. Glenn Close, and Dermott Mulrooney are basically the top names in this movie, but the rest of the cast carries it superbly. How this film did not receive rave notices for both it's direction and screenplay is something that i can not explain. This is a motion picture that will draw you in from the first scene. It is certainly one worth watching over and over again, and I will be looking to purchase my own copy.

Robert Klein, Glen Close, Mary Kay Place, Patricia Clarkson, Dermot Mulroney, Jessica Campbell, Joshua Jackson, Moira Kelly, Tim Olyphant ...talent all over the place, and a story very worthy of their efforts. No two films, writers, or directors are the same, of course, but I think it's fair to mention Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm", the work of Atom Egoyan ("Exotica", "The Sweet Hereafter"), or thematically similar films like "One Hour Photo", "Safe", "White Oleander", "Far From Heaven", and "Crash" as having a strong relationship to "The Safety of Objects". ALIENATED, DETACHED, REMOVED, UNCOMMUNICATIVE, LOST SOULS desperate for attention, warmth, love, understanding. This is NOT to say "Safety..." is merely a cog in a gathering movement of films, because it has it's own agenda, and conclusions. Watch this one with a clear head...or the complex, layered, forward/backward, puzzle pieces of this story will overwhelm you with details that ARE important. I will see it again and again.

Having watched the film, and then read the comments here, I wonder if I was watching the film described. Admitted I am not American, don't live in America, and have never before heard of A.M. Homes or Rose Troche, but this film was to me a total waste of time. I guess I am a cinematic dinosaur, but any film that makes me say to myself 'What is going on now', or 'What is the point of doing that', or 'I just don't understand this' is a film I have no desire to see. Glenn Close is a good actress, and no doubt the performance she gave was the one required by the director, but personally I think she did this film because she needed the money. I have no complaints about the acting in general, it is merely the arrogance of film makers who foist their meaningless efforts on an unsuspecting public which annoys me. I do enjoy films that make me think, provided they make me think about the content of the film, and don't make me think I have just wasted two hours of my life.To sum up, think seriously before watching this film, if you are a member of a dysfunctional American family, with severe emotional problems, you might find something to empathise with, otherwise avoid.