Weak movie.

I loved it. Quite a haunting film, featuring the best work Kirsten Dunst has ever done.

A

Indeed, it is very well done though and an impressive performance from Dunst. - C+

I haven't seen this in about five years, but I remember it being well-made. It certainly wasn't enjoyable (or a great movie), but the themes were done well. The acting was also quite good, if I remember correctly.

Awesome directing debut by Sofia Coppola. This movie is a tough one to swallow, being haunting and shocking. Dunst delivers an incredible performance. B+

I saw this over a year ago, I don't remember it much, but I remember really enjoying it.

8/10 (B+)

Nepotism at it's finest ( worst ), 10 May 2000



*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Warning: does contain spoilers

Nepotism: favourtism, especially towards ones relatives. ( Webster's Dictionary )

Nepotism: it's not what you know but who you know. ( everyone else )

I am now convinced that everyone act like sheep. I have been reading the reviews in here and from professional critics and I can't believe what I am seeing. People are saying that this film is brilliant and wonderful and heart wrenching and such. They say that Sophia Coppola has made a hauntingly auspicious debut with The Virgin Suicides. And I saw the film yesterday and I can't believe I was watching the same film that these people were. Because when I left the theater I was angry, again. Angry that a film like this was allowed to be made simply because Sophia is Youknowwho's daughter. And look at the cast in here. Many of them are Coppola cronies that have appeared in his films before. You have Kathleen Turner who was in Peggy Sue Got Married. Danny DeVito was in Rainmaker and of course you have Scott Glenn as the priest, who was in Apocolypse Now. James Woods doesn't have a direct connection with Coppola, work wise, but he sure is a Scorsese cronie and Scorsese and Coppola are friends so I'm sure Woods and FFC have met on many occassions.

These four names, although not Hollywood heavyweights like they once used to be, are still quite a casting coup to get for your first film that looks like it has the budget of a used car. Toss into the frey Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Hartnett and Kirsten Dunst and you have a great cast that can do wonders with almost any material given to them. This however, is not one of those films. I'm not sure if it's inepptitude can be solely blamed on Sophia Coppola but since she is the writer and director, where else can you look. This is not a haunting film. This is not a tragic film and this is not a great directorial debut. This is a film that has very little plot that we haven't seen before, and it is quite poorly directed and very poorly paced.

The Virgin Suicides tells the story of the Lisbon family seen though the eyes of the neighborhood boys that were not really in love with them, even though the script will have you believe that, but rather more confused, fascinated and in bewilderment of them. The girls are all beautiful and they are all untouchable because of over-protective parents and moreso an over zealous mother who used Jesus as her savior and reason to not let her children out of the house. She doesn't want them anywhere near boys and when she finally does let them go to a dance, she makes them wear identical dresses and adds cloth to the length and to the bust line. Okay, so this is nothing that we haven't seen or heard about before. Take films like Carrie, Mommie Dearest, The Menenez Brothers etc and this kind of thing is something that has been done before. But then the daughters all die and we know that because of the title. So now the rest of the film has to show us why they decided to expire themselves. Why did they kill themselves? That is really the question. And of course we all know that it is because of mom and dad. Ho Hum.

Now I am not opposed to ideas being recycled, after all, there are only so many stories you can tell. Eventually they just become variations of the original. Karate Kid is a rehash of Rocky, all Cyborg films are a rehash of The Terminator and every action spy movie is a clone of James Bond etc. etc. So now the trick is to tell your story well and do something intriguing and exciting to keep the audience interested. Take what American Pie did or even a film like True Lies. American Pie was a retread of Porky's, Fasttimes and many other teen films from the 80's. But they added some 90's gross out humour along with some revamped gigs from its predecessors. True Lies had a funny script and a funny Arnold and Arnold to play off each other and so now it stands on it's own as a great spy flick. The Virgin Suicides not only isn't original, it isn't entertaining or even very good. And that has to start with Sophia Coppola.

I counted, ( after I began to count ) about 10 different segments in the film that had no bearing to the story, just shots really, that were there for no other reason than to be there ( was there an editor present on this film?). There was one scene where the girls are in a bathroom together and they do nothing there. They don't really talk, they don't give away a big secret, they don't do anything. And then it goes onto the next scene. Now that is maddening. Coppola's direction is ambiguous, unfocussed and doesn't have any aim as to what she is trying to say. Not only that, but if you want it in plain english, the film is boring, tedious and quite pretentious. Maybe she has better films in her future but she is going to have a short career in Hollywood if she keeps making films like this that are crap.

The Virgin Suicides is actually one of the worst films I have seen in my life. But it does one thing and that is it confirms one of the oldest adages in the world.

" It's not what you know but who you know. " How true in this case, but having the same genes as the man who made the Godfathers and Apocolypse Now does not mean you can make movies like him. This is a prime example of that.

1 out of 10

Very nice looking and occasionally powerful, but it's apparent that this is Coppolla's directorial debut with its uneven storyline (whose attention seems to divert from the girls to the boys about mid-way through) and insistence upon actors whose performances don't hold a lot of dramatic weight. It also lacks some much-needed complexity surrounding the actual suicides. Ambiguity's fine, but this is a little too much ambiguity.

B-

Saw this for the first time last night. The movie had potential but as mentioned, it's way too uneven, it never really clicks and alot of it is just very bland, the movie makes itself out to be more important then it really is. The only thing that actually works well is the dark comedy aspect, other then that it just doesnt connect.

Grade - C

I love it. Final proof to me that Coppola the daughter is one of the best directors out of this decade. It's interesting and sad, funny and engaging. And every young actor is believable, both alone and with each other. :up:

Just watched it a couple of nights ago and loved it. The theme is not uncommon, but the execution is so nice, so poetic. My spirit was pretty low that night because of Duke losing, but the film actually lifted it, even though it's a sad story. I was hypnotized.

An excellent and magnetic film, with some impressive directional work from Sofia Coppola (an omen of things to come, obviously) and fantastic performances. A very underrated little gem.

A-

Hypnotic and haunting, filled with great performances. A-

I haven't seen this since I was incredibly young but I watched it this afternoon and I really adored it. Darkly funny and haunting with fantastic performances and brilliant direction and a killer soundtrack. One of my new favorites.

A