Rating- * * * * (4/5)
I am beginning to learn that the circumstances in which you view a movie can have a great deal of influence over what you think of the movie. Take my most recent case, Lantana. This film received a great deal of critical praise last year but not nearly as much attention from the press. I decided to try it out for myself but unfortunately I was a little short on time so I was forced to watch the movie at about one o’clock in the morning. I tell you this not because I think you might care about my personal life but because you should know that I was 1) dead tired while watching this movie and 2) not entirely focused on the plot and development of the film itself. The film follows the lives of several people that eventually become intertwined through a series of events and tragedies that unravel as the film progresses. Anthony LaPaglia plays a cop with an unhappy marriage and an equally unhappy affair. Geoffrey Rush and Barbara Hershey play a couple who have drifted apart after the loss of their daughter. Everything starts to come together when one of the characters is found dead and everyone else seems to be somehow connected. This film does a great job at showing how small the world can be sometimes and it also takes a good hard look at the nature of marriage and how easily it can fall apart if it’s not treated as important and fragile. I do feel that the film was a little slow and hard to stay with but that could easily have been because I had not slept in 18 hours. Regardless, this was a very well acted and well written film that may have lacked a little panache but is ultimately a very good film and worth seeing if you are looking for a good rental.