Customer Reviews

The Republic of Love

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

 

 

THE REPUBLIC OF LOVE is yet another fine film from Canada based on Canadian Pulitzer Prize Winner (for 'The Stone Diaries') Carol Shields' novel by the same name, and written for the screen and directed by the gifted Deepa Mehta ('Earth', 'Fire', 'Water', etc). It is a satisfying story about the human boundaries set by/for love and how those 'republics' touch and clash and interact.

Tom Avery (the very gifted actor Bruce Greenwood) was an illegitimate child, raised by a homemaker class as a teaching lesson in how young brides to be should learn the skills of tending house, who has grown up, married three times out of a need for belonging and for being loved, and is currently unattached, making his living as a night talk show host helping the lonely hearts. Into his life steps the beautiful museum curator, currently involved in a Mermaid Exhibition, by the name of Fay (Emilia Fox) who remains single because of her exceptionally high demands for a partner. The two meet, fall immediately in love at first sight, much to their individual surprise, and proceed with a courtship, while at the same time encountering and observing other couples (especially their parents) who seem to hold the winning medals for perfect marriage.

Fay's parents (James Fox is Richard, the father) have just celebrated their anniversary when Richard abruptly decides to leave his wife. Fay runs to her mother's rescue, leaving Tom alone and the apparent brunt of Fay's disillusion of marriage. The changes that occur cause Tom to reflect on his history of marrying too often in unions that have not met with success. How Fay and Tom ultimately resolve the abutments of their personal 'republics' is the part of the story that carries the film.

The entire cast includes some of Canada's finest actors and the film is solidly directed by Mehta. There are aspects that disrupt the flow of the story, the main one being the incessant and very loud East Indian music that seems wholly out of place and is at best distracting (the score was written by Talvin Singh). Mehta also elects to throw in some bizarre cutesy animation at the end that for this viewer cheapens the story. But flaws aside, this is a fine film graced by the presence of Bruce Greenwood and Emilia Fox. Recommended entry from Film Movement. Grady Harp, January 08

In the spirit of full disclosure, I've not read the book this is based on, so can't compare the two. The movie could've been a very sweet, funny look at love, but is marred by a couple of unneeded fairly graphic scenes (imagination is a wonderful thing), and an odd senile neighbor character I simply couldn't figure out the purpose for. I think the creators of the film probably wanted it to have a quirky, almost fantasy feel to it, but didn't quite succeed. The soundtrack/background music was completely annoying and had no relation to the characters or what was going on, and I found myself wishing there was an option to turn it off. Bruce Greenwood's performance is what makes it watchable. He turns a train wreck of a character into someone deeply appealing and charming, even though Tom is almost impossibly naive and gullible for a middle aged man. Also in the spirit of full disclosure I LOVE his voice and wish he really did have a radio show as my dial would be permanently welded onto that station.

I was rather surprised by this movie. I usually am not the biggest fan of Romantic Comedies, but a friend of mine raved about this one, and the cinephile that I am, I decided to give it a shot. While it retained the feeling that no matter what happened, the romantic leads were inevitably going to end up together (I s'pose it's a romantic comedy, such things are inevitable), it managed to present this story in a very stylish way. Instead of confining the discussion to the romantic entaglements presented in the narratives, the film talked about things like the benefits and failings of routine.

Of course at times it descended into the schmaltz of love letters, utterances of 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you', and the like, but--as my female friends inform me--this is an essential element of the genre. And there were some wonderful moments of truth such as an awkward conversation about the weather that turn into embers of romance, or a moment of quiet delight when the female lead tests out an indicator of love (it's all in the fingertips). For me the hightlight of the movie was the paralellism that was presented between love and mermaids. And the direction and cinematography weren't subservient to the story: each element was allowed to explore the themes in its own way without being an illustration of the feelings of the characters. All in all, it never stopped being a Romantic Comedy, but all the while, it managed to side step insufferability.

This film is tied among first place contenders of the worst I've ever seen! I disliked every single thing about it.

I almost quit watching it in two different places, but kept on out of curiosity that it just had to get better. It didn't. In fact, it seemed to get worse and there were parts I nearly laughed out loud.

I didn't like any of the characters. None of the actors could act worth a darn - just awful acting. The dialog was laughable and overall writing very very bad.

The use of color and non-color was pointless, even while trying to make a point. The use of music was misplaced and downright terrible selections.

The plot was insipid and the sets were mediocre at best. I don't often give out 1 star reviews, but since I wasted my time on such a bad movie, this one deserves it.

TERRIBLE WASTE OF TIME.

I thought this was a lovely film and it really was a joy and pleasure to watch. It benefitted from good direction and acting - it was sweet, but not too sweet to be overbearing and cheesy like most other romantic comedies. I very much enjoyed it.

To begin with, I didn't know what to expect from this movie. I rented it because the reviews seemed favorable and the price was right. I think that while the characters were likable, at the core there was no soul. Perhaps it was the winter scenes of Canada but the movie left me cold. Or perhaps it was a by-product of the cinematography. There was a lack of warmth until near the very end of the movie. The female lead's discussions of love with her father struck me as analytical and sterile. It was as if they were discussing intimate relationships at arms length. This was at odds with the intimate scenes in the bedroom and other places that were best left to the imagination. Perhaps it was the scripted reserve of the characters, but I think there was a lot left unsaid. Love prevailed in the end, I don't think we really know why.

Well done story. Good story arc with nice rom-dram plot - and not sappy at all. Entertaining and memorable.

The Republic of LoveThe book was good, but this is one of those rare cases where the movie is better. A terrific cast--including the too-little-known Bruce Greenwood (JFK in "Thirteen Days") and a real-life as well as onscreen father-daughter pair, James and Emilia Fox--gives us a terrific look at love.

This is a very nice love story that is fairly conventional on one level (love at first sight) but has the more comfortable pacing and luminous imagery of independent films that makes it a bit more original. I hadn't read the novel to be able to make comparisons, but I can see how a lot probably had to be abbreviated. The two leads are excellent. Bruce Greenwood is one of my favorite actors, and it is only because he is so appealing that his character Tom (who has been married 3 times and impulsively falls in love and wants to marry immediately again) doesn't seem like the total suffocating mess he probably would be in real life, and actually seems like someone Fay could feel comfortable with. Also, this film has a woman director--big plus!

Film follows three couples: elderly couple who have spent their lives together without being married, couple that celebrates 40 years of marriage and a middle aged couple in a new relatioship on a crossroads of deciding if they want to get married or not. We learn that relationships are never what they seem to be to the outsiders. What seems to be perfect 40-year long relationship ends up in trial separation and what seems to be uncommited casual relationship ends up in marriage in a hospital death bed. The young couple: a man who has been married and divorced three times and his girlfriend who never had seemingly strong relationship are trying to figure out if the marriage is for them at all. There are some great British actors ogf the older generation in this movie: Edward Fox and Claire Bloom for example, who have aged so much that it is almost impossible to recognize them. I liked the mystic indian music in the movie, but fresh infatuation between two youngest protagonists is too sappy at time. I did find some of the casual sex scenes funny (foot fetish for example).