SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

arthousefilms-68-939717 This film, even though it is a slow burn art-house film, really has a lot going for it. The casting is perfect! I never expected to see Guy Pierce as an Americana low life, but he totally pulls it off. Kristen Wiig was perfectly cast in the completely understated role. Sometimes she is drawn inward so much, that you almost wish she had a moment of warmth that was more than just nuance. I wanted her to have a little outward joy on film to help ease some of the difficulty in watching the character trying to cope with herself in the world.But I really loved some of the sweet moments of warmth in the film, however, reserved they happened to be. I was touched by several moments, especially the moments between Hailee Steinfeld and Kristen Wiig.Over all, this movie was my cup of tea, I just wish it had a little more range for Kristen's character to help swing the needle up and down a bit.

vpelss A slow plodding drama with a train wreck plot (I like train wrecks). The main character is dull. But Kristen Wiig does a great job all the same. It screams, life is hard. They scenes filmed make the hard parts seem easier than they would normally be. But good acting and editing quickly brings back the focus to reality. If you watch the whole thing, you just might like it.

TxMike I have come to prefer Wiig in non-comedic roles, as hers here. She is perfect for this role.Kristen Wiig is Johanna Parry, a domestic worker, caregiver, housekeeper, cook. A simple woman who is also perhaps too trusting of others. As the movie opens we see her with an elderly woman who soon dies in her sleep and Johanna calmly dresses her in her preferred blue dress before calling to report the death.Her next job is for Hailee Steinfeld as Sabitha, living in Iowa with her grandfather, Nick Nolte as Mr. McCauley. Her mother has died and her dad, Guy Pearce as Ken, has a prison record for alcohol and drugs and was in fact driving under the influence when his wife was killed. He is not welcome in the family and stays in Chicago.The "spark" of this story starts when Ken is visiting, Johanna has just arrived, and they all go out for hamburgers. Days later when Sabitha gets a letter from her dad, inside is a note for Johanna, a simple note saying he enjoyed meeting her. She writes back and makes the error of trusting Sabitha and her friend to mail it for her. Instead they open it, make fun of her, begin fake correspondence from Ken, then make a fake email account. Johanna never had love in her life and falls totally for what she thinks are letters from Ken, and apparently asking her to join him in Chicago. Which she does, much to his surprise. They soon figure out the girls were behind all this but instead of getting angry Johanna makes the best of the situation, cleans Ken's place, cares for him when he develops a fever, cooks for him. He soon becomes attached to her. A manifestation of the old song lyric, "If you can't be with the one you love then love the one you're with."A bit slow to develop, patience is rewarded. A good movie.

Rand Bishop Being funny on the screen seems effortless to Kristen Wiig. Her comedic clowning skills are on a par with Lucille Ball and Shelly Long. Sincerity, however, doesn't come as easily — especially when her character is plain and charmless.HATESHIP LOVESHIP sat on the Thriftway DVD rental shelf for several weeks. I took note of its great cast: Wiig, supported by Guy Pierce, Nick Nolte, Hailee Steinfeld, Christine Lahti, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. What could go wrong there? My memories of GIRL MOST LIKELY (which was supposed to be a comedy, but whiffed miserably) prevented me from taking the chance. Wiig's performance as said GIRL lacked any charm whatsoever; she was drab, homely, and totally unappealing. So, what was she going to do with this, her first dramatic role? It didn't look promising at all.Finally, I took HATESHIP LOVESHIP home. And, I'm so very glad I did. What a splendid collaboration between star, cast, screenwriter, director and crew in this adaptation of Alice Munro's short story. Ain't no heroes here. These are real, extremely flawed human beings. They might live next door to anyone. They might be anyone.Wiig's Johanna is a caretaker. That's what makes her life make sense. And, that's her odd beauty. She also finds herself attracted to bad boy Ken (Pierce) a drug-addicted user with delusions of accomplishing something that will finally give him independence.But no one in this story seems to feel entitled to anything. They've all been wounded. So they protect themselves.No one is hanging from a cliff. No clock is ticking. No fuse is burning down. Yet, somehow watching Johanna scrub a long-neglected bathtub filled me with worry, hoping she wasn't setting herself up for disaster.The sex scenes, while not showing any nudity, are luscious and beautiful. I hope to see more of Liza Johnson. She is one gifted and inspired director.Yeah, maybe Ken will never change. But it won't be for Johanna's lack of patience, and devotion. The story leaves us rootin' for the dude — and loving her. The doormat has won his respect and admiration. And ours. She deserves it.