Customer Reviews

This Is My Life [VHS]

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

 

 

You know when you are real little and your parent't want to shove a vegitable in your mouth, and you instantly reject it? Even if it makes it into your mouth you spit it out? Then after a time and you grow a little, vegitables aren't the big nasty monster's that your dad used to shove in your face? Well, that's the best way to describe this film from my point of view. I flipped through the channel's, stopped on the opening titles and kept on flipping. A second passed and I decided to flip back and give it a chance. What a rewarding decision that was. Julie Kavner won a place in my imagination with her portrayal of a nurse in Awakening's, my favorite film. She also does the voice of Marge Simpson. You get to see a performance that comes from the simpson side of her talent's as she plays a comedian and mother of two girls: Samantha Mathis, and Gabby Hoffman.(Both of these girls have since grown into blossoming careers) What I most enjoyed was the sincerity, and honesty as the girls deal with the same problems as their mother. Each trying to discover the secrets of life and love. Their mother is trying to stay on the road as a hit comedian and at the same time be a loving mom, while the girls are dealing with the effect's of their mother's action's and her spotty dress. A lot of light hearted moment's and a really enjoyable movie.

This movie is a real down to earth, sweet and troubled look at REAL life.
I was looking for it on DVD to watch on Mother's day! But, sady it doesn't
exist. A loving film of a single mom's love for her two girls, her support
group of friends as in "it takes a village", the tenacity of children who are raised
with love not matter how crazy it looks on the outside. Love is the answer and
this film has a permenant place in my heart. I can't wait to share it with
my 9 year old... when I can find it...The Twelve Gifts of Birth - MUSIC

One of the rare opportunities to see the wonderful young Gaby Hoffmann ("Field of Dreams", "Sleepless in Seattle"). Kavner, Aykroyd and Morris are excellent too, as is the very clever writing, for me second only to "Heartburn" among Ephron's films, but this is above all a star turn for Hoffmann. The fact that Kavner's comedy routines aren't really that funny is part of the point.

Nora Ephron's first effort as director (made before Sleepless in Seattle) stars Julie Kavner as a stand-up comedian. You would think that this would work considering how funny Kavner has been in The Tracey Ullman Show, the Woody Allen movies, and as the voice of Marge Simpson. But although she has some clever line readings and works to make the routines come alive, she fails since the material is not funny. This is made worse by Ephron's cuts to the audience laughing in hysteria. Kavner also isn't believable as a mother. She's more the big sister type, and I think miscast, playing a character who needs to be sympathetic for us to accept her following her ambition at the cost of the responsibilities of her family. Ephron does better with Kavner's two daughters, Samantha Morris and Gaby Hoffman, who both give wonderful performances. Morris in particular is a revelation as the sensitive teenager in angst, embarassed by her mother. Ephron's best work is in the way she presents Morris' schoolyard romance, treading a delicate line between comedy and pathos. Morris also gets one of the best lines. When fans approach her mother at an airport, she asks "Do you like people coming up to you and not even knocking?". The film is actually peppered with witty dialogue, and a polka dot design is fun. But the score by Carly Simon is a major minus featuring irritatingly bland songs performed by herself. Watch out for Barbara Stewart in a small role - she plays an airhead with a Southern charm that is sweet and funny.

The acting was fantastic but at times it gets too slow, or too drawn out, or maybe the cast just wasn't right. But who am i to judge. Some people think it was a great film, i on the other hand just don't see why it was so great. out.