Customer Reviews

Puccini for Beginners

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was really looking forward to the release of this film on dvd. I expected great things from it's maker. I was pretty disappointed when I finally got to see it. The film focuses mainly on the 'straight' relationship and none of the characters really have any chemistry. The story was kind of cute and watchable enough but it only really just touched the surface of things. It pretty much played it safe. I guess that's what you have to do if you wanna break in to the mainstream with these kind of subject matters.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

This movie was kinda cute and charming. Fun for a bit of mindless entertainment -- you can't allow yourself to get too focused on the fact that in the city of 8 million people this one chick happens to find herself in a room with her boyfriend, her girlfriend who is also the boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, and her ex-girlfriend at the same time.

The movie would have more endearing if I liked Allegra more. As it was, though, the movie was intended to be a chronicling of her growth, and that pretty much means she has little redeeming qualities in the first instance. And I found it very hard to care about her character when, after finding out that the two people she's "dating" (term used loosely) are an ex-couple and after being expressly advised by her best friends to dump them both, she apparently makes little to no attempt to do so -- as if she WANTED to get busted anyway.

I'm giving this movie 3 stars because I enjoy the acting talent of Mol and Kirk... but Allegra's character leaves a lot to be desired, and while she's meant to be "complex," she's also really kind of a jerk.

I caught this movie on the Logo channel so I don't have the dvd but I figured I'd write a review anyway.

To me it's one of those movies that could never happen in quite this way in real life but it does raise issues that are real.

The main character hooks up with two people who are having problems in their relationships not knowing that their relationship is with each other.

I guess one lesson is if someone just wants to be 'the other person' this may be what they become which is what happens initially.

But ultimately she lucks out and causes someone else to become the other person and she becomes the right person which is what she so desperately wanted.

I guess the main point is how do people find that other person that is right for them. This is a very deep philosophical question. Even a spiritual question.

Perhaps the various experiences that these people went through was a necessary part of that discovery for them.

I think movies like this can be educational if they make people think about the implications, complexities, and possible outcomes of getting involved in intimate relationships. She perhaps underestimated the feelings that her two friends still had for each other.

The two main female characters in this movie are bisexual but this is not a graphic movie. At least not the version I saw on tv.

Jeff Marzano

When Night Is Falling

I've been interested in seeing this for a long time and finally bought it on a whim. I wasn't sure what to expect; the trailer for the film made it look pretty good, but I also felt like it would be easy to make this film cheesy or just dull.

I was happily surprised to find myself laughing throughout the entire movie! It was very funny and somehow managed to remain thoughtful during the process. Our main character, Allegra, (portrayed wonderfully and with excellent timing by Elizabeth Reaser) undergoes a tremendous transformation and makes me feel as though I'm on the ride with her. I find her to be a character that most people have been able to relate to at some point in their lives, which is another reason I was laughing so much; I could see similar things happening to many other people. (Not necessarily the bisexual love triangle, but I digress)

Though this movie didn't disappoint in making me smile, you may feel tears behind your eyes once or twice depending on how sympathetic you are to movie characters. (That's not a minus though!)

I am proud to call it one of the best independant films I have ever seen and I now gladly have this sitting in the front of my movie collection, as it has become an instant favorite. "Puccini For Beginners" is something that I easily see myself rewatching again and again, while laughing and loving it every single time.

**1/2

Written and directed by Maria Maggenti, "Puccini For Beginners" is a tres chic romantic comedy set in a movie-spawned Manhattan where virtually everyone we meet is Caucasian, trendily upscale and sexually conflicted.

The strained setup lands somewhere between a labored screwball sex farce and a recycled Woody Allen angst-fest: Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser) is an opera-loving, afraid-of-commitment lesbian who finds herself inadvertently and simultaneously dating both a man (Justin Kirk) and his longtime girlfriend (winningly played by Gretchen Mol). As Allegra bounces back and forth between her two oblivious paramours, the characters talk out the issues of their relationships as if they were channeling left-over bits from "Annie Hall" or "Manhattan."

"Puccini for Beginners" is one of those small-scale independent features that thinks it's being smarter and more insightful about romantic relationships than it really is. Actually, after all those really sharp Woody Allen exposes on the same subject, very little in this film feels like fresh observation. To be truthful, with the exception of Mol's winsome Grace, most of the characters here are more annoying than they are appealing. Not only are the plotting and much of the writing too cutesy by half, but so is Maggenti's directorial style, which relies heavily on smart-alecky narration, freeze-framing, and dopey fantasy sequences to generate laughs.

"Puccini for Beginners" offers a few genuinely funny moments within its blessedly short 81-minute running time, but throughout we're plagued by the nagging and irreverent suspicion that the film might have been more accurately entitled "Puccini for Idiots."

Elizabeth Reaser is the attractive star of this amusing New York comedy of manners. She plays the defiantly lesbian Allegra who can't seem to commit. When her girlfriend Samantha walks out, Allegra quickly meets two attractive strangers -- philosophy prof. Phillip and glass blowing banker Grace. What she doesn't know is that Phillip and Grace are a long-standing and unhappy couple.

Before long, Allegra is cavorting with both (separately), surprised to be enjoying a physical relationship with a man, still trying to work out her commitment issues. Of course, it's only a matter of time until the distraught couple realize they are both sleeping with Allegra. (I'm not giving anything away here -- it's all laid out in the opening scene of the movie.)

There's nothing very profound about this film but the acting is good and there are some witty moments, all of which makes it pleasant entertainment.

This movie is a very enjoyable, thought provoking romantic comedy. It comes across as lighter than it actually is. But its lightness makes it a joy to watch and it will linger in your thoughts after with the messages it puts across.

PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS tells the story of a lesbian who keeps having short lived romantic relationships due to her fear of commitment. The film begins with yet another girlfriend breaking up with her and then our main character settles for living life alone. Of course at that point she meets two people with whom she becomes involved - a man and a woman. And the added twist is they are a couple themselves.

The film is not a statement movie about homosexuality but rather a film where all the characters accept each other for who they are. Allegra, our main character is indeed a lesbian, but she does not hate men. She develops feelings for the man with whom she gets involved but she knows it is a rarity. She is most comfortable with women. He also accepts her and does not question why a lesbian is being with a man. As he says TO ME YOU ARE JUST ALLEGRA.

The story unfolds with solid acting and comic situations mixed in as Allegra goes on a deep journey of self discovery. Believe it or not, I must disagree with some other reviewers. I do believe some peoples lives are as straightforward and carefree as our characters here. For this movie requires a deeper examination. Their outer lives seem satisfying yet all of them are going through inner emotional struggles. They are all good people who are learning about themselves and sometimes good is rewarded.

it is a joy to see a gay film that is not an issue film but merely a film about believable, very real characters on realistic journeys. I highly recommend you travel with them. You will laugh, may have a tear or two and it will linger with you after. You will certainly be inspecting the way you yourself feel about true commitment and acceptance.

Very enjoyable. Highly recommend.

This is a mediocre (not terrible, just mediocre) attempt of a romantic comedy. The story centers around an undecided young woman who can't decide whether she is really a lesbian, whether she loved the last girlfriend who dumped her for her inability to commit, whether she is now in love with a man or maybe with his... ex-girlfriend. As you can imagine, the situation will get complicated very quickly, giving rise to fairly trite situations.

Acting is mostly mediocre, and would be just fine for a TV sitcom. Tina Benko and Justin Kirk save the day a bit, but the main character, played by Elizabeth Reaser, is very forgettable, rather silly, and not even very attractive. The dialogue tries hard to be witty, but it ends up in most cases being just trivial and quite unnatural. As other reviewers have pointed out, the screenplay really sounds a like "Woody Allen for beginners".

Overall, a very forgettable movie, which I will quickly forget.

Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser, "The Family Stone" but probably more recognizable as "Jane Doe" from last season of "Grey's Anatomy") has commitment issues, which explains why her girlfriend, Samantha (Julianne Nicholson, "Little Black Book"), has dumped her. However, she ends up questioning both her sexuality and her sanity when she falls for Philip (Justin Kirk, "Weeds"). Yes, he is a man, but he is a college professor capable of engaging in verbal sparring and he actually likes opera. If that were not enough complication in her life, Allegra, begins a relationship with another woman, Grace (Gretchen Mol, "The Notorious Bettie Page"), who has just broken up with her boyfriends of six years and never been with a woman before. But, wait, there is more. Grace's ex-boyfriend is Philip and as the "Prologue" of this 2006 film makes clear, yes, everything is going to hit the fan for Allegra in a big way.

Actually, there is not a lot of Puccini in "Puccini for Beginners," although some of the characters go to a production of "Turandot" at the beginning. Philip takes Allegra to see "Don Giovanni," but that is Mozart. In one of the deleted scenes the violinist on the street near the end was playing "Nessun dorma," but that got gut at the end. But then in the trailer the opera music is from "La Donna e Mobile" from "Rigoletto," which is written by Verdi (I do not really think the aria's rant about the fickleness of women really fits the character, but the music is recognizable), which only goes to prove that you do not need to know a lot about Puccini to appreciate this screwball comedy. To the extent that "Turandot" is an apt metaphor for what takes place (the way Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to see "La Traviata" in "Pretty Woman"), Allegra tells you all you need to know when she says the opera is about having to pass a test for the sake of love, with dire consequences if you fail.

Yes, "Allegra" is the brand name of an antihistamine drug, the name of the heiress to the fashion house Versace, and the name of the illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron and Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley's step-sister), but it is also an Italian name for a female meaning "gay" or "happy." Such meanings have meaning for this movie because by thinking she is not the former our heroine may be ruining her chances to be the latter. The name is also related to the musical tempo "allegro," which means "quick and lively" or, literally, "cheerful." That would also provide an ironic encapsulation of our heroine who has to be quick to juggle the two relationships, but does not have the time to be all that cheerful.

Many viewers will be reminded more of Woody Allen movies that Puccini operas anyway, especially "Annie Hall," what with the New York City location, the use of comic subtitles, strangers getting involved in commenting on the proceedings, and the idea that Allegra is not as smart as she thinks. Fortunately, Reaser is not channeling Allen and her restrained performance keeps this one grounded as the complex situation drives towards its inevitable and painful collapse. There are just a pair of deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer included in the DVD extras, but the commentary track with director Maria Maggenti ("The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love") and editor Susan Graef does an above average job of focusing on how the film was made in terms of cutting, rewriting, and all the thousand natural decisions that making a film is heir to, especially when you only shoot for 18 days and have 8 weeks to edit Final Note: I would not think of "Holiday" as being a screwball comedy, certainly not in the same league as "Bringing Up Baby," and if you were going to reference a Katharine Hepburn film in this movie I would think "Sylvia Scarlett" is the (perhaps too) obvious choice.

Directed and written by Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love), this disheveled 2007 romantic triangle comedy has several likable elements, but it never seems to coalesce into something more resonant. The chief problem is that the protagonist, a neurotic, opera-loving lesbian writer appropriately named Allegra, is so perpetually self-absorbed that her dilemma never elicits much sympathy. Elizabeth Reaser (superb in Sweet Land - A Love Story) is an appealing character actress but frankly not charismatic enough to get away with the commitment-phobic shenanigans that Maggenti throws her way in the acerbic script. The gap causes an odd imbalance with her more intriguing co-stars Justin Kirk and Gretchen Mol. Kirk, who soared as Prior Walter in Mike Nichols' epic 2003 adaptation of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, harnesses his quirky persona effectively to play Philip, a bored philosophy professor who becomes attracted to Allegra.

In turn, Allegra finds herself drawn to Philip but is still reeling from a break-up with her conflicted girlfriend of nine months. Meanwhile, Mol (refreshingly frank as The Notorious Bettie Page) seems to be channeling a bit of Meg Ryan's flaky self-righteousness in playing Grace, a pert glass-blower who just broke up with Philip. Grace meets Allegra, and the standard complications ensue. Even with the lesbian angle, which Maggenti handles with aplomb, the indie movie feels more like a throwback to a 1930's screwball farce, especially seen in a hectic party scene where all three principals converge in a most haphazard way. Emotional isolation is a worthy theme to explore, but Maggenti can't make the film snap with the strength of her witty observations. One would have also expected a reference to Puccini, in particular, his tragic opera Turandot, to be reflected more fully than it does here through the plodding plot structure. The 2007 DVD has an insightful commentary track from Maggenti and editor Susan Graef, as well as a couple of deleted scenes.