The movie does a great job of painting a picture of a grieving women who is desperate to rekindle an old flame after the loss of her husband. It also does a great job of showing her finally moving on when that potential relationship doesn't work out, but for all the brilliance at the beginning and end, the middle of the movie, where that potential romance is being explored, falls flat.
After watching 30-40 minutes of Faye depressingly trudge around, with a humorous scene or two and a serious scene or two, we finally get to meet Lito. For the next 30 minutes we can see the two start reminiscing and the fire they once had start to return. This culminates in a kiss over ice cream, which cuts into the next morning and ...nothing. After a short walk Lito exclaims he can't do this and drives off.
Going from their first passionate kiss to "I can't do this, bye" in the span of literally 2 minutes just seemed rushed. No attempt to explore or explain what Lito is feeling and why he is making this decision.
I think if they had taken an additional 30 minutes to explore the romance a little more, with Lito then coming to the realization that he didn't want to rekindle the romance (assumingly realizing Faye can never be a replacement for his own deceased spouse) would have made for a much more compelling story. Even an extra 10 -15 minutes with him explaining to Faye why he doesn't want to pursue the romance any farther would have been alot more satisfying than him just saying "I can't" and running off screen. I will give it 4 stars, because the build up at the beginning and ending were really good, but the middle to me seems rushed and fell flat.
After watching 30-40 minutes of Faye depressingly trudge around, with a humorous scene or two and a serious scene or two, we finally get to meet Lito. For the next 30 minutes we can see the two start reminiscing and the fire they once had start to return. This culminates in a kiss over ice cream, which cuts into the next morning and ...nothing. After a short walk Lito exclaims he can't do this and drives off.
Going from their first passionate kiss to "I can't do this, bye" in the span of literally 2 minutes just seemed rushed. No attempt to explore or explain what Lito is feeling and why he is making this decision.
I think if they had taken an additional 30 minutes to explore the romance a little more, with Lito then coming to the realization that he didn't want to rekindle the romance (assumingly realizing Faye can never be a replacement for his own deceased spouse) would have made for a much more compelling story. Even an extra 10 -15 minutes with him explaining to Faye why he doesn't want to pursue the romance any farther would have been alot more satisfying than him just saying "I can't" and running off screen. I will give it 4 stars, because the build up at the beginning and ending were really good, but the middle to me seems rushed and fell flat.