Take This Waltz is a rather sweet, very nuanced film. Sarah Polley has some great talent in both screen writing and directing, and her effort here is... both a success and failure. It's a very gentle, very fragile film, one where all of the spoken dialogue is said with such precision and emotional truth and one in which the characters feel unwilling to reveal themselves completely. I appreciated it's tone, optimistic, but very melancholic. At times, it left me in a sort of trance. But it's not great simply because I found it too self-conscious at times. It has its great moments that ring true, but also moments in which it just feels like an exercise to be "sweet" and "subtle". The characters are not all as interesting as I would hope for. After the film's first act, I felt like the film had nowhere to go, and instead it kept going in circles. Still, it was involving for what it was.
The performances here are what is excellent. Although the characters do bring you into the story, they also really make you think twice about their flawed developments and overall writing. But the actors all give it their best. Michelle Williams is slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses, and while she is great in the role, I can't help but feel like it's something that she has already done in much more interesting ways. I love Williams, but I do hope that she starts to branch out in different ways and not just go for these type of roles. Rogen shows a real gracefulness and maturity that we haven't seen from him before, and he makes the most of his character definitely. Not a ground-breaking performance, but one that will make you appreciate him more as a dramatic actor. Kirby is also mysterious but also very appealing and seductive in his own way.
I would say that this is a failure in many ways, but also a film that I could still slightly recommend. I don't think it's anything original or even anything special, although it has its moments where it truly soars. I actually think that while Polley showed a different kind of directorial style, this is not as good as Away From Her. For Williams fans, check it out. She is great, but it feels like such an obvious role for her, and her performance, her mannerisms, all feel recycled. It leaves me torn because as an exercise in acting, she does more with the role than Polley did with her writing, but at the same time it can't hep but feel uninspired. The last 10 minutes however, are better than the rest of the film, and I do greatly admire what Polley did with this ending.
The performances here are what is excellent. Although the characters do bring you into the story, they also really make you think twice about their flawed developments and overall writing. But the actors all give it their best. Michelle Williams is slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses, and while she is great in the role, I can't help but feel like it's something that she has already done in much more interesting ways. I love Williams, but I do hope that she starts to branch out in different ways and not just go for these type of roles. Rogen shows a real gracefulness and maturity that we haven't seen from him before, and he makes the most of his character definitely. Not a ground-breaking performance, but one that will make you appreciate him more as a dramatic actor. Kirby is also mysterious but also very appealing and seductive in his own way.
I would say that this is a failure in many ways, but also a film that I could still slightly recommend. I don't think it's anything original or even anything special, although it has its moments where it truly soars. I actually think that while Polley showed a different kind of directorial style, this is not as good as Away From Her. For Williams fans, check it out. She is great, but it feels like such an obvious role for her, and her performance, her mannerisms, all feel recycled. It leaves me torn because as an exercise in acting, she does more with the role than Polley did with her writing, but at the same time it can't hep but feel uninspired. The last 10 minutes however, are better than the rest of the film, and I do greatly admire what Polley did with this ending.