 |
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Movie Reviews of Career GirlsMovie Review: Bittersweet Summary: 5 Stars
After his volcanic, emotional, wonderful "Secrets and Lies," Mike Leigh decided to keep it simple and straightforward, at least on the surface, with this film "Career Girls." On closer inspection though, "Career Girls" is equally as emotionally open and character driven as its predecessor of just one year before.
"Career Girls" is a film of recollection and remembrance: not always fond nor happy but like all recalled events and relationships one filled with equal parts pride, regret and embarrassment. Hannah ( an equally whacked out and serene performance by the now deceased Katrine Cartlidge) and Annie ( a twitchy, depressed yet also thoughtful and emotionally vulnerable performance by Lynda Steadman..." a walking open wound" as described by Hannah) meet again six years after college having been room mates during most of their college years. They were friends, confidants and shared early lives of hurt and despair. They never quite connected though as college room mates, mostly because they were damaged having been mortally wounded by childhood and therefore wary of all commitments. But now, they are mature seemingly successful women and as such recall events of the past with a sly understanding of each other and of the events that helped shape their current lives.
Bittersweet is a word that comes to mind while I watched this movie again also having seen it in the theaters some 10 years ago. At a particularly poignant dinner in a Chinese Restaurant, Hannah and Annie reveal all the stuff that they both hated and loved about each other: a scene redolent with the truth of recalled events and emotions..."You're the only person who ever understood me," recalls Hannah about Annie.
This is a special kind of bittersweet though: a bittersweet brewed by director Leigh with the grounds of regret and heartfelt recollection. Hannah and Annie have moved on, built new lives on the detritus of their college years and have come out the other end better and wiser for it.
Movie Review: Those Who Knew Us Back In The Day Summary: 5 Stars
Career Girls is about a weekend spent between two old college roomates who finally reunite after 6 years apart. Both shared a flat in London during University before moving out after graduation. One stayed in the city and another moved into the country but they continued to exchanged letters to maintain contact. Although they change into career girls on the outside their reunion is spent reconnecting just how the same as always they may be on the inside. It's film depicting the passage of youth, the endurance of friendship, our true selves that never go away, and just how much fun two can have with Ms. Bronte's books as an oracle. I do agree with another reviewer about the flashbacks circa the 80's ... and the music on the soundtrack. Hard to believe it is now over 20 years since that era! No matter what ... the cliche is true ... the more things change the more they stay the same.
|
 |
|
|
|