Lyrical, sweet-natured, touching, sexy and very funny, A Home at the End of the World is also beautifully served by an exemplary cast.
A Home at the End of the World (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:109
Fresh:53
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Bobby and Jonathan have been inseparable since they were teenagers in suburban Ohio. Bobby has suffered many losses for someone so young, and is starved for love and affection. Awkward teen... Bobby and Jonathan have been inseparable since they were teenagers in suburban Ohio. Bobby has suffered many losses for someone so young, and is starved for love and affection. Awkward teen Jonathan has a nice family, and a particularly wonderful mother (Sissy Spacek). The boys not only become as close as brothers, but they also experiment sexually. The two lose touch, but find each other again in their mid-20s in the early 1980s, when Bobby (Colin Farrell) moves to New York and joins Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) at the apartment he shares with Clare (Robin Wright Penn), an aging hippie. Bobby and Clare become lovers, however, Clare had planned to have a child with Jonathan, who is now openly gay and who is still interested in Bobby, and to whom Clare used to be attracted. The trio becomes its own unique entity, questioning the traditional definitions of family and love, and dealing with the complications of their love triangle. Based on the novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham, who also wrote the screenplay and who was the recipient of the Pulitzer prize, this film marks the debut of director Michael Mayer. Erik Smith plays Bobby as a teenager, and Harris Allen plays the teenage Jonathan. [More]
Starring: Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts, Sissy Spacek
Starring: Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts, Sissy Spacek
Director: Michael Mayer
Director: Michael Mayer
Screenwriter: Michael Cunningham
Producer: Tom Hulce, John Hart, Pamela Koffler, Hunt Lowry, Katie Roumel, Jeff Sharp, Christine Vachon, John Wells
Composer: Duncan Sheik
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for A Home at the End of the World
Features strong performances from Colin Farrell as bi-guy Bobby, Robin Wright Penn as hetero Clare and Dallas Roberts as gay Jonathan.
Cunningham ... should have made sure more dimension got into the script, and not just in Spacek's handful of scenes.
So thoroughly decent in its intentions and so tactful in its methods that people are likely to persuade themselves that it's better than it is, which is not very good.
An emotional wipeout, the effect of which may well prove indelible, much like the films of James Dean.
As far as indie real-feeling character flicks go, World is in a class all its own.
Compassionate and touching, but less complex and resonant than the book.
An unconvincing lead performance from Colin Farrell robs the film of an emotional anchor, but there is nonetheless plenty here to admire.
The jarring and crucially weak link is Farrell, a talented actor woefully miscast and comically uncomfortable here.
Most of the movie feels like Farrell's performance: deeply sincere, and more showy than convincing.
In the book, the strong-but-silent Bobby's interior monologues gave him a semblance of an inner life, but Cunningham's Cliff's Notes adaptation shrinks the character to a monosyllabic man-child with a puppy-dog stare.
Celebrates a natural born lover who brings joy, pleasure, and sexual fulfillment to those who are lucky enough to be part of his extended family.
The finest cinematic study of relationships to come along in quite some time.
A thoroughly good cast in a story that rests squarely on character rather than event.
Effectively shows how the most important decision you can make is your choice of family.
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