Customer Reviews

Griffin & Phoenix

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I actually first caught this movie on the Lifetime Movie Network, and had never heard of it before that. However, I soon found myself engrossed in it. It's not your typical love story, but that's what is so good about it. Two people meet and slowly fall in love, but there's a big secret that each of them has that they're not sharing with the other that ends up making all the difference in how they relate to each other. By the time you finish watching this movie, you'll have rethought everything about your life and how you're living it, and if you have a significant other, you'll both be brought closer by this story. It's a very powerful love that these two people share, made all the more intense by their situation. This may not be a blockbuster, but I highly recommend that anyone who has ever spent their time whining about how hard they have it pick this up and watch it.

GRIFFIN & PHOENIX is a quiet little made for television film that touches the vulnerable heart. Originally written in 1976 as a television film by John Hill, this thirty-years-later version holds up well, and the fact that audiences will still opt for sensitive stories that treat difficult topics in a mature manner, adding warmly humorous touches to a potentially maudlin idea, speaks well for our continuing tastes.

From the opening frames of the film we learn that Griffin (Dermot Mulroney) has inoperable cancer: his frank and compassionate physician (Lois Smith) aligns him with reality. Griffin is a divorced father of two boys and his first attempt to find meaning in his limited time is to spend time with them, an attempt partially thwarted by his ex-wife. Once a workaholic, Griffin attends a class on death and dying at the university and there he meets the rather strange and isolated Phoenix (Amanda Peet). Griffin's new take on life encourages him to go after the seemingly impenetrable Phoenix and through a series of wildly frivolous escapades he courts her and they gradually fall in love - something neither felt they could do. They cope with issues of intimacy and finally Phoenix shares her secret with Griffin, a secret that plunges them headlong into a fully blossomed romance. How the two cope with the inevitable is well handled, rarely bordering on sappy, and always holding our compassion.

Director Ed Stone paces the film well, inserting moments of extended silence to match the emotional atmosphere, allowing breathing space. Both Peet and Mulroney create believable three-dimensional characters and are well supported by such solid actors as Lois Smith, Sarah Paulson, and Novella Nelson. The story may have sad aspects, but the cast always allows the humor inherent in any life event to come through. And that is one of the several reasons the film works well. Grady Harp, September 07

I didn't know what to expect when I first saw this movie. I thought it would be campy. . . etc. However I was surprised.It is an extremely well-acted film that treats a delicate subject with class and beauty.
The movie starts off humorously enough, with one of the main characters--Griffin (played brilliantly by Dermot Mulroney) finding out some life-altering news. He then meets a woman named Phoenix(Amanda Peet) at university where he has decided to take a class. He falls in love with her, and she with him.
It is a beautiful love story with a twist. It is definitely not your normal love story, as previous people who have reviewed this film would say. This is not a movie for everyone, as this movie can be hard to stomach. Long interludes, slow-moving dialog, and slightly implausible situations, make this movie slightly difficult to watch. However if you can sit through all the quietness, this movie is worth the view at least once.

The jacket notes bill this movie as a "heartwarming romantic comedy" and Amazon's product description refers to it as "funny". Please: Heartwarming and romantic it may be, but a comedy its not -- from the very first scene it's about death, and it's not black humor. No living happily ever after here. Good drama; no romantic comedy.

This movie is a must to view, it touched my heart in the most possible way, you will need a box of kleenex and view it with the love of your life. The movie stars (Dermot Mulroney) as Griffin and ( Amanda Peet) as Sara Phoenix. He discovers he is dying and falls in love with Sara who also is dying, These 2 characters have such good chemistry together til the end. Please view this movie, I will now go and search to purchase. Dont forget the kleenex and the one you love. Enjoy! The music from this movie was just as good.

My husband and I both love this movie. I had recorded it on my DVR from Lifetime and we loved it so much we would not erase it. I was thrilled to finally find it available for purchase. We have watched it a few times. The story is good, the acting is good and it's definitely not morose. It is a fun love story about 2 people who happen to be dying. Life and love are the focus and not death.

I saw this movie on a transatlantic flight and upon getting home bought it for my wife to watch. We were both in tears at the end - a superbly acted, well scripted movie. You have been warned, though...invest in some tissues!

Wow. This movie will let the tears fall! But Sometimes that's all we really need. When I look for a movie I want to be moved. Cry. Laugh. I want to be entertained. This movie is all about doing what you always wanted to do. No boundaries. What would you do if you only had a small time to live. AND no I didn't give anything away you know that in the 1st 3 mins. Get this movie I have not cried and laughed this much at the same time in a long time. AND it's funny. Dermot Mulroney is funny. And Amanda Peet well--she'll always be Jordan McDear to me. She's wonderful! And this movie is wonderful as well. GET IT! DO IT. Do it.

I think that the ending was the best ending that could have been written for this movie.

I stumbled across this movie on accident when I was researching something else online and I told a friend about it. She added it to her Netflix list and reported back that she really liked it a lot so I ordered it on Amazon. (I'm a huge fan of both Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet, I would have wanted to own it just having both of them in it.)
I finally sat down and watched it tonight and loved it.
It's quirky and heavy and charming and heartwarming.
I've read reviews in which both Mulroney and Peet received very good marks for their performances and I completely agree. This subject matter is hard to handle but it was done well - showing both the delicacy of the situation and the full on anger that comes with it.
I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone looking for a tug on the heartstrings or a touch of raw human emotion.