Real Life
Added 1/31/2009
This is an amazing look at the hard edge of life and a coming death. Great acting Mary Stuart-Masterson is at her intriguing best and a strong performance by Karl Geary. If you enjoyed Tuesdays with Morrie or The Notebook then this DVD is for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Emotional Roller Coaster
Added 1/25/2009
As I write this, I can go down to our DVD library and choose any of more than 3,500 movies dealing with or for children and teens. But, I cannot think of any of them that is more of an emotional movie than this one! It is truly a bittersweet story about a 16-year-old girl, Mary, dying of cystic fibrosis, whose junkie/prostitute older sister is her only relative after their parents died. Two neighbors and a prisoner are also a part of the story; all of them have suffered some tragedy in their lives, and the story interweaves them together in such a way that there is a natural symbiosis. Mary, with her book of dreams she calls her book of stars, is the link between them all, and she seems to be the only one who can see the good in their lives.
In a movie dealing with a dying teen, I would have liked to have seen some reference to God, their church's beliefs in Heaven, or at least some Spiritual awareness. This is totally lacking, unless one considers a fantasy of spacemen among the stars counts as something spiritual. While you probably should have your handkerchief close by as you watch the film, it also has a delightful, happy element as well. This is a movie you'll probably need to watch several times to understand all the parts, but it is so good that if you like emotional movies, you won't mind watching it again. I am grading it down to an 'A-' because of its failure to consider traditional religious beliefs; still, it is a movie you won't soon forget.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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The Power of Story to Heal
Added 2/15/2007
As the title of this review, indicates that is what this film illustates. It is told with an clarity and intensity that is more real than 'reality.' It is one the most beutiful works of magical realism I have ever seen. Mary Stuart Masterson is masterful and if Jena Malone is not the finest young actress in America, I don't know who possibly could be.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Another pearl worth searching for...
Added 5/29/2002
Bumped into this one at the library. Wow! The blockbusters and spectacles are fine, but it's little gems like this one that outdoes them all. Jena Malone shines (no big surprise), Mary Stuart Masterson does a fine job. They are well-supported by Delroy Lindo, Karl Geary and D.B. Sweeney. The music is haunting - wish a soundtrack was available. The art in Mary's (Jena Malone) book is a good match for the music and the free-verse poetry of Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Mary. In fact, this movie has inspired me to start writing poetry. I enjoy action/adventure movies, dramas, and comedies, but movies like "The Book of Stars" linger on while the others fade. Well worth at least one viewing (I lost count how many times I've watched it!)
6 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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my humble opinion
Added 1/8/2002
Fascinating movie that I happened to see on IFC or Cinemax. And this coming from a guy who thinks every movie doesn't have enough babes or guns. Anyway, I was transfixed by the complicated relationships between these characters. Everyone had some type of pain in their lives and needed someone else to heal them or give them hope - Mary needed her sister to take care of her and Kristjan as the only one to see her as more than a child, the professor needed the sisters to rescue as a respite from his lonely existance, the convict needed Penny's book of poetry and Mary's kind letters as a way to survive the harsh life of prison, and Kristjan needed to learn how to care again after the war in his home country. And Penny, reluctant Penny, hides from reality and dulls her sense of her responsibility and unfortunate circumstances. She of all requires the most help - the tragic character who is rescued by her sister Mary. Mary is the focal point for the convict, Kristjan, and the professor and she inadvertently magnifies all their hopes and kindness to Penny. That's what I assumed the sun symbolized, Mary shining her indomitable spirit onto Penny, the peripheral characters were the stars. I'm probably reading too much into the symbolism. Excellent performances by all, very moving picture, quiet, imaginative and most of all hopeful...Another movie similar in its quest of surviving the inevitable is Sweet Jane, a gritty drama about an addict adopted by a terminally ill child and how they help each other with life and death.
13 out of 13 people found this helpful.
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Real Life
Added 1/31/2009
This is an amazing look at the hard edge of life and a coming death. Great acting Mary Stuart-Masterson is at her intriguing best and a strong performance by Karl Geary. If you enjoyed Tuesdays with Morrie or The Notebook then this DVD is for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Emotional Roller Coaster
Added 1/25/2009
As I write this, I can go down to our DVD library and choose any of more than 3,500 movies dealing with or for children and teens. But, I cannot think of any of them that is more of an emotional movie than this one! It is truly a bittersweet story about a 16-year-old girl, Mary, dying of cystic fibrosis, whose junkie/prostitute older sister is her only relative after their parents died. Two neighbors and a prisoner are also a part of the story; all of them have suffered some tragedy in their lives, and the story interweaves them together in such a way that there is a natural symbiosis. Mary, with her book of dreams she calls her book of stars, is the link between them all, and she seems to be the only one who can see the good in their lives.
In a movie dealing with a dying teen, I would have liked to have seen some reference to God, their church's beliefs in Heaven, or at least some Spiritual awareness. This is totally lacking, unless one considers a fantasy of spacemen among the stars counts as something spiritual. While you probably should have your handkerchief close by as you watch the film, it also has a delightful, happy element as well. This is a movie you'll probably need to watch several times to understand all the parts, but it is so good that if you like emotional movies, you won't mind watching it again. I am grading it down to an 'A-' because of its failure to consider traditional religious beliefs; still, it is a movie you won't soon forget.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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The Power of Story to Heal
Added 2/15/2007
As the title of this review, indicates that is what this film illustates. It is told with an clarity and intensity that is more real than 'reality.' It is one the most beutiful works of magical realism I have ever seen. Mary Stuart Masterson is masterful and if Jena Malone is not the finest young actress in America, I don't know who possibly could be.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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