TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Andy Steel A well made film with some interesting performances, chiefly coming from James Gandolfini as Douglas Lloyd 'Doug' Riley, Kristen Stewart as Allison alias Mallory and Melissa Leo as Lois Riley. All three did a really good job with a script that I did find a little predictable. Kristen Stewart, probably wanting to do something very different to that other part she's famous for, did a decent job, although some of it did look a little forced. I have always rated her as an actress but with this I felt she didn't make me believe in the character. I thought Melissa Leo did a great job as Lois, I really felt for her when relating the story of how her daughter died. James Gandolfini was excellent as Doug; he was plays this kind of part really well.A quite slow paced film which may put some people off, I did find the opening third quite hard to get through. After that it did pick up and I could see some nice 'Scott family touches' beginning to appear. With a better script I could see this becoming a bit of a hit, however, it did fail to hit the mark (for me), despite the best efforts of cast and crew. A touching drama with some good performances and some nice touches here and there. Not quite enough to earn my recommendation but still maybe worth a look.My Score 6.4/10IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 10,400 votes at the time of going to press).MetaScore: 50/100: (Based on 29 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 54/100 (based on 76 reviews counted at the time of going to press).Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 59/100 'Liked It' (based on 16,270 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

monkeyboy12121-414-225890 It seems that the Scott family are blessed with a knack for film-making. I really did enjoy this film and it resonates with me even though i watched it yesterday. For those who haven't read the synopsis, it is a story about 3 people who have lost direction in life and are dysfunctional people but somehow when they come together, they become better and happier.First of all i think the music in this film is amazing, it really suits the film and is memorable. Galdolfini does an amazing job as the "step in father" and Leo is equally as good as the "broken" mother. Also i must say i am surprised by how good Stewart is in the film, but maybe its because i've associated her with those twilight films. She breaks out of that "teen" image and is shown as a foul mouthed prostitute. At times i thought, maybe it would have been better to cast an unknown so that we do not associate stewart with that sweetheart innocent image as it is pretty shocking what her character does in the film at times. Scott has done a good job with the characters and i think in reality that this does happen; that some people are so determined to not let go of lost ones that they do extreme things to remember them. The timescale of the film does supposedly extend into weeks when the 3 characters are together but i did find it felt only like days that they were together and I would have liked more interaction between the 3 characters as most of the character interaction is between doug and allison. Positives: great movie with deep characters, acting is superb and stewart does a good job Negatives: would have liked to see more interaction between the 3 main characters Overall: should give the movie a watch, good acting and an interesting plot is what drives this movie.

MBunge Watching this film is like listening to Adele sing the Happy Birthday Song. It's the most beautiful version of something you've seen a billion times before. James Gandolfini, Kristin Stewart and Melissa Leo exquisitely perform a story that doesn't have a single original or unexpected moment from its opening scene to the closing credits. The direction of Jake Scott is a little manufactured at times but never gets in the way, letting you enjoy two modern masters and a young woman who is sure as hell a lot more than "that girl in the sparkly vampire movies".Doug and Lois Riley (James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo) are a 50something married couple in Indianapolis who are on the precipice of personal disaster. Doug is sleeping with a waffle house waitress and Lois is frozen in place, unable to even leave her home. They've never recovered from the death of their teenage daughter. Then Doug travels to New Orleans for a business convention and meets Mallory (Kristin Stewart), a teenager stripper/hooker who's trapped in a world of squalor and misery that she can't even imagine escaping. Doug is drawn into that world, selling his business and abandoning Lois to try and pull Mallory out of the gutter. The shock of Doug's decision is enough to force Lois out of stasis and she drives down to The Big Easy, only to fall in love with Mallory as well. But a 15 year old girl who's seen and lived the worst of the streets can't be fixed that easily.Now, there's not one surprising scene or line of dialog in Welcome to the Rileys and the concept of a woman so wounded by the loss of a child that she can't step outside her front door is treated a bit too comedically. That's about all I can find wrong with this motion picture and it fades to insignificance compared to all that's right with it.The three leads here are as close to perfect as any actor can get. If there's anything lacking in these roles, it's entirely due to how they're written and not at all how they're performed. Stewart is absolutely dead on in her portrayal of a girl who doesn't know the right way to live and bristles at anyone who tries to teach her. Gandolfini's stoicism and determination flows through a man who thinks he's found purpose again. Leo's portrayal of the most damaged person in the story transforming into the strongest is effortlessly believable. And while Ken Hixon's script does nothing new, he handles the integration of Lois into Doug and Mallory's world with great intelligence. Lois is a sharp and fast disruption to that relationship but Hixon makes you see that such a disruption was needed to let both Doug and Mallory move on to a healthier place in their lives. Director Scott also deserves credit for sustaining a consistency of emotion and behavior instead of jerking the characters in whatever direction the story moves.Gandolfini and Leo have already made their bones in the acting world but with Welcome to the Rileys and The Yellow Handkerchief, Stewart has laid claim to being THE actress to watch in her generation. I hope she can fulfill that promise and I hope I can see a lot more films as good as this one.

Ashley D. I love this movie, I bought it online without even knowing the plot. I'v seen Kristen in other movies (Twilight) but I think that she is extremely good at portraying the part of Mallory. This movie also made me connect with Mallory in a way because you or I never think of runaway girls who live alone and have no parents to teach them how to act or even make a living. Mallory had to do that all on her own. Even though this movie is touching, I think it has some humor in parts of it. One of the tricks in the movie that I may use in my life some day is keeping the house key in you mail slot, especially if you think you are gonna lose it. So I give this movie a 10/10 <3 it.