Customer Reviews

All the Real Girls [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"All the Real Girls" lurks, and it lurks, and it lurks, until it haunts. It is a messy romance movie, a little cool to the touch, a little wrapped up in itself. But the effect is bone-rattling.

I won't say much -- and I am not a planted reviewer -- but the movie confirms the arrival of David Gordon Green as a serious, in-the-game filmmaker. His pervious film was "George Washington," and it, too, was a messy tale of heroism, gothic pain and love and mortality. It was also the most visually striking film aside from "Dancer In the Dark" that I have seen in some time.

"All the Real Girls" does not have the epic power that movie possessed -- "George Washington" is out of time, out of mind -- but it has a more cohesive, enjoyable narrative, it is not as weirdly symbolic and, most importantly, it's about adults. I recommend it highly, even if I think the sum of the parts do not transcend the parts themselves. I await the moment when Green makes a whole film, start to finish, possibly without a script he has written. His talent is unique and immense.

Paul (Paul Schneider) is the kind of good looking, teddy bear, cuddly, slow talkin', sly bad boy that women adore and fall hard for. And he's taken advantage of this like most guys of his ilk and has earned a well deserved bad rep for loving and leaving `em; which is particularly sticky for Paul because he lives in a small, going to seed town in middle America in which Everyone knows Everyone else... and they all know Paul's business.
Paul meets Noel (Zooey Deschanel) and he decides to change his spots and, treat her with respect and thereby repent and follow the straight and narrow, as it were. Noel has other ideas, though.
David Gordon Green, the director and writer of "All The Real Girls" has structured this movie in a very laidback, molasses in the summer manner and has cut the film into many short scenes: some with dialogue, many without. He's after the long term, not the immediate effect of these images to have their impact and for the most part he succeeds; even though the first 15 minutes of the film is hard going, as we don't know what he is trying to do and the stiffness of the actors and their delivery of the dialogue begins to get irritating.
Yet, the most touching scenes in this film are those between Paul and his Mom (Patricia Clarkson), Paul and his Uncle and Paul and his friends. His friends, all of them men in their 20's, are guys who are not afraid to open up emotionally to each other. All of these scenes are so warm and natural that they seem improvised. In fact, Gordon shows that these people, though under-educated but obviously endowed with an extraordinary amount of horse sense, have an intelligent and insightful awareness of their emotions and an appreciation of all the relationships in their lives. These scenes crackle with truth and nobility.
In many ways "All The Real Girls" owes a lot to the French Nouvelle Vague in that it is the accumulation of the images and the dialogue that ultimately hits you with it's intended effect: most scenes do not have a climax as the director builds his arsenal of scenes and moods. We are so used to the very literal, linear film that this style of filmmaking makes us antsy for the director to "get on with it." But Green is not making "XXX" here...he's trying to tell a subtle, personal love story and he is not in one bit of a hurry to do it.

David Gordon Green follows up his stunning success, "George Washington" (2000), with his second feature, "All the Real Girls," a film so exceptional, I want to thank him for making it. Never has stinging heartbreak been so vivid, so ethereal, and yet so grounded.

We're immersed in the Carolina countryside, the smoky mountains, sun-dappled faces, playgrounds, lakes and rivers, scrap yards, the shattered remains of a town, filled with people who have no dreams, except that which holds them closest - family and love. "Girls", at heart, is a sincere love story concerning Paul (Paul Schneider) and Noel (Zooey Deschanel). Their love deliberately avoids the clichés that most Hollywood films embrace, and instead, goes for the heart and the gut. Green sets a tone of longing and loss, feeding the mounting power of the story, but he also mixes in some unforced comedy; this is life and it feels real. Schneider and Deschanel give two varied and distinctive performances; they deserve much praise for the success of this film.

Tim Orr's cinematography adds warmth and texture; he is fascinated with nature, and understands that our environment induces emotional reactions. My chest was in knots, and I soaked it up. I reveled in knowing that resolutions are elusive, that love exasperates, that films this good appear once in a blue, Carolina moon, that "All the Real Girls" is a masterpiece.

I won't bog down w/ specifics, as past reviewers have already shared their comments. But as someone below said: in a lot of cases it's a "love it or hate it" film. That aside, I was taken by the beauty of the picture sequences, along with the actors' ability to convey their emotions.
But perhaps the most important thing a lot of folks are neglecting is the soundtrack! It's excellent, featuring a host of discreet bands. Pyramid, Mogwai, and , and Sparklehorse, to name a few.
Do yourself a favor and at least check it out.

I JUST watched this film. I have to admit, it is easy for me to judge a film I watch late at night by quite simply whether or not I can make it the credits. Instead, here I am at 1 AM writing a review. That is how good this film was.
I came across this film in the dollar video store down the street (my second residence). I recognized the title, plus the cover caught my eye. I somewhat relunctantly rented it and honestly it because there wasn't much else there (since I prefer the non-mainstream). Also, because most anything that bears "Sundance" or some other international film festival on the cover, I am willing to give a try.
Two minutes into the film, the actors had captivated my emotions. They had already completely convinced me they were falling in love (something I am very picky about). Paul and Noel have a rare chemistry that made it so real. The film was also beautifully shot. It captured those little things that are so often overlooked. The movie really touched me, I cried. I cried a lot actually. I don't think that is what the movie is necessarily going for, and it may not make you feel that way. I just related with it on some level that most movies never stir.
I told myself I wouldn't go on and on about this movie. I really just want to recommend it to anyone. I can see however, that it may not be for everyone. It could be called "slow-paced." However, if you are interested in a great, honest, story about love, and life, that is not conventional, that is brillantly shot...watch this. All I really came to say is: RENT IT. This movie made my day; finding an unexpectedly genuine treasure amongst the rows of meaningless films in the video store.Just watch it for yourself...

I won't rehash the plot for you, which many previous reviewers have done quite well. To say this is a movie about "young love" doesn't give enough credit to the many layers. We see how this love affair affects not only the couple, but those close to them...friends, parents, previous lovers, etc. It is a tenderly made movie, slow to develop. No one really makes any brilliant speeches that feel like a writer labored over them...yet the people are talking all the time. Their emotions are right there to be understood by any feeling, thinking person.

It's a rare thing to feel such EMPATHY for characters. In many of the scenes, we are right there with them. The filmmaker, working with a miniscule budget, has made the choice to let the ambient sounds of this little factory town just kinda wash over most of the scenes. We can almost imagine that we're looking and listening out of a window, eavesdropping on the conversations of others. This makes us realize how often when we observe film, we are being "manipulated" by professionals...ALL THE REAL GIRLS feels real.

It's a heady experience, and we draw close to these characters in a way we don't often. I'm not saying that more "Hollywood" movies don't make us care about the characters...it just FEELS a little different here, and that is a kick.

Everyone in the movie is excellent...but I especially commend the two women. Patricia Clarkson (so brilliant in FAR FROM HEAVEN) gives another effortless performance here. I believe an Oscar lies in her not too distant future. SHe just needs to be in a movie seen by a few more people. And Zooey Deschanel is capable of being one of our GREAT young actresses. She is attractive in a totally believable way. She has a naturalistic, unself-conscious manner...mixed with some genuine quirkiness. I like her a lot!

Towards the end of the movie, the central relationship runs into some MAJOR roadblocks. These are painful, and we are eager for a "Hollywood" resolution. It doesn't come...but neither does an emotional payoff. We see how the characters lives are changed...how they develop in their understands. But somehow, just when we should be feeling it most, the characters suck their emotions into themselves...leaving us, their sympathetic viewers, out in the ocld. So, although I totally admire the movie, the craft, the totally convincing performances...I ended up leaving the movie theater feeling let down. I'm not saying the movie needed a "happy ending" or a "tear-jerker" moment...but it does take the naturalistic approach just a bit too far...it needed just a bit more "plot."

By all means take a look at this movie, though. The Razor-sharp dialogue and great acting make it worthwhile.

In a small industrial town, Paul (Paul Schneider) has fallen in love with his best friend's sister, Noel (Zooey Deschanel). Noel's brother Tip (Shea Whigham) disapproves of the relationship because he knows Paul's ways with women. Together Tip and Paul acquired a reputation for loving and leaving most of the town's available young women. But now they are both a little older, and Paul has found a woman whom he loves to talk to and listen to. Paul desperately wants his relationship with Noel to be different from his past dalliances. Their romance goes well until a decision that Noel makes drives a wedge between them, leaving Noel at loose ends and Paul distraught and angry.

"All the Real Girls" is a film that concentrates uniquely on the interrelationships between a small group of people in a town where you may get the feeling that not much goes on outside of interpersonal relationships. The film was written and directed by David Gordon Green. I have to say that I have never seen emotions articulated this clearly in a film. The degree to which these characters tell each other precisely what they are feeling was almost startling until I got used to it. Paul and Noel are two young people in love for the first time and struggling to make their first serious relationship work. What makes them unique is that, instead of being afraid to share their feelings with one another, they constantly tell each other all of their hopes, frustrations, shortcomings, and anything else they might be thinking about. I doubt that this is remotely realistic in any relationship, but it is interesting to watch and wonder if this kind of openness would actually help or hurt a relationship, or make no difference at all. I give the film only 3 stars, though, for a couple of reasons. "All the Real Girls" greatest fault is that there is no chemistry between the two lead actors, and not once was I convinced that the two characters were in love, despite what they were saying. This is a serious flaw because Paul and Noel's relationship is the focal point of the story. The film is also very talky, as you may have inferred. Add to this the fact that the film's pace is unnecessarily languid, and I think that it will not maintain the attention of most moviegoers. I recommend "All the Real Girls" to those who traditionally like talky relationship movies. You might find something unique in this one. But I think that most moviegoers won't enjoy it.

I will second what so many critics have already admired about this film, it plays anti-Hollywood. It is subdued and realistic; yet, there is poetic cinematography that enhances a small town romance. I can't believe that David Green and Paul Schneider just hatched this script in a dorm room. The miracle that a film like this can be made, the enormous cost of film, I am impressed.

Paul is a nice Southern boy in the Smokey Mountains that has already tasted the town girls. His mom is a piece of work and he's just shy of being a momma's boy. Paul's best friend has a sister that has been away at boarding school for years. (Yes, this is contrived.) Zooey Deschanel is cute and ready for a love adventure after her cloistered years. Paul is crazy about her, but sex with someone you love is an Oedipus moment, so things are beautiful and terrible at the same time. If you don't understand, get a copy of Freud's Lectures, 1927.

We totally related to the sensitivities of Schneider in this role. They speak slowly in this town and feel deeply. They are surrounded by nature and industry in turn. My one complaint, well, maybe more than one, I thought Schneider a few years too old for this part. Bachelors in their late twenties are a little more cynical or perceptive than Paul. They know sex is great with lots of nice people, but when it's time to settle down, they already have their act together. Now young twenties, that's chaos, which I think director Green was aiming at.

I had been meaning to see this movie in London because of the praiseworthy and intriguingly personal reviews I had read in the paper press. I missed it of course, seeing as it was ever only playing at 1PM showings at one or zero inordinately expensive Central London cinemas.

This is a shame because it is one of the most effecting movies I have seen in roughly a week (Lost in Translation and Girl With A pearl Earring are both excellent also) and more people deserve to see it.

A beautiful story of a boy and a girl in love. That's it. It's amazingly rare to find special relationships such as love when young as accurately portrayed in modern cinema as this film achieves.

The female role played by Zooey Deschanel is tender and subtle while the male role played by Paul Schraider is strong yet emotional. You couldn't ask for a better on screen chemistry between, all about looks, what is not said, the silences.

The heartache and longing is all there also, as well as the comic relief (it ain't all weepy and heavy sighs).

Go buy this film, it is well worth it, you'll be talking about it with friends afterwards.

The extras are good also, the writer and director David Gordon Green is a revelation, full of insight and intellectual depth about what he wanted to achieve, it makes you feel contented that there is a guy out there who is prepared to challenge film-making assumptions. Watch this guy for the future.

In what must have been a director's dream, David Gordon Green has assembled a cast of actors that, quite simply put, could not be improved upon. Every performance sparkles with a natural quality that feels exactly right. The story is a classically simple one: womanizing boy meets best friend's sister, falls in love, (thereby initially threatening friendship) encounters relationship threatening hardship and doubt, family problems followed by a huge dose of self-examination.

As Paul, Paul Schneider gives a breakthrough performance striking chords that will resonate strongly for most men who made (or are making) the transition from teenage years to manhood, stumbling and bumbling along the way. A powerful combination of bravado and self-doubt ensures we see all sides of Paul's character - good and ill, making him thoroughly someone you instantly like, but still want to knock upside the head.

Zooey Deschanel commands the screen with an innocence that fairly crackles. She also has brings an allure not found in actresses with ten times her experience making Noel's story and predicament identifiable to legions of blossoming young maidens.

A third great performance is found in Shea Whigam's turn at Tip, Paul's best friend. Starting over-the-top, Whigam finds Tip's core, cooling down the hothead. The scene in where he finds himself immediately immersed into adulthood in particular is powerfully moving.

Then there is Patricia Clarkson. With the least amount of screen time of all the principals, as Paul's mother - Elvira, Clarkson gives a performance that could be required viewing for all actors, proving with relish that age old adage "there are no small roles." Watching her, clown make-up and all, in this searing performance was, alone, worth the price of admission. Getting to Elvira's heart we feel her frustration at the loss of dreams and having to cope with the harsh, brutal realization that life may not turn out anything even remotely how we may have planned. If Clarkson doesn't break your heart see a doctor.

Some may find the slow, lyrical pace of All The Real Girls a bit measured, but the movie provides rare rewards for those who stay with it.

Ultimately, I think viewers who will judge this movie most harshly (and I've been proven right) are those close to the age of the film's characters - too close to be truly observant. Those over 30 will inherently know what this is all about.