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Movies / On DVD / Personal Velocity
Personal Velocity

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Personal Velocity (2002)

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Reviews Counted:99

Fresh:68

Rotten:31

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Uneven, but a keenly observed and well-acted film about three women's lives.

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Three very different women confront life-changing decisions in this film derived from Rebecca Miller's book of short stories. Each woman has reached a turning point in her life. Delia (Kyra... Three very different women confront life-changing decisions in this film derived from Rebecca Miller's book of short stories. Each woman has reached a turning point in her life. Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) finally takes a stand and leaves her abusive husband, but still has to find a way to regain her power and life; Greta (Parker Posey) achieves more professional success than she ever imagined, but has fidelity issues when it comes to her marriage and her lovable but dull husband; and, on the heels of a tragic accident, Paula (Fairuza Balk) has to contend with an unplanned pregnancy and the status of her personal relationships. Shot in digital video, the film is peppered with various effects and editing that achieve an intimate look and feel. Sedgwick is exceptional and wholly believable as gritty, tough-as-nails Delia. Both Posey and Balk are well cast as their respective characters, with Poseys vignette infusing some humor into the trilogy despite its serious overtones, and Balk bringing an indepth sensitivity to Paula. The film also stars David Warshofsky, Tim Guinee, Rob Leibman, and Wallace Shawn and is narrated by John Ventimiglia. PERSONAL VELOCITY is written and directed by Rebecca Miller, daughter of famed playwright Arthur Miller. [More]

Starring: Fairuza Balk, Parker Posey, Kyra Sedgwick, John Ventimiglia

Starring: Fairuza Balk, Parker Posey, Kyra Sedgwick, John Ventimiglia, David Warshofsky, Nick Cubbler, Nicole Murphy, Brian Tarantina, Laura Fanelli, Mara Hobel

Director: Rebecca Miller

Director: Rebecca Miller
Screenwriter: Rebecca Miller
Producer: Lemore Syvan, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian, Jonathan Sehring, Caroline Kaplan
Composer: Michael Rohatyn
Studio: MGM/UA

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Reviews for Personal Velocity

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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Unlike many movies you'll see or have seen about the fairer sex, neither wallowing in Lifetime movie affirmations and morbidity nor batting its lashes with cutie-pie comedy.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
11/27/02
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

The three main subjects of Personal Velocity prove so vivid and haunting, they leave you wondering why other aspects of the movie don't rise to their level.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
11/27/02
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

[Miller is] too interested in who her women are and what they might become to worry about what they should be.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
11/27/02
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

In a way, it plays like a dated feminist tract, one of those works that wants to show women making tough decisions and being emotionally resilient, but is at root about them being screwed over by men.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
11/27/02
Jeff Stark
Jeff Stark
Salon.com

A movie that at its best doesn't just make the most out of its characters' flaws but insists on the virtue of imperfection.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/26/02
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Expands the limits of what a film can be, taking us into the lives of women to whom we might not give a second look if we passed them on the street.

Full Review Source: Journal News (Westchester, NY) | comment Comment
11/23/02
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Journal News (Westchester, NY)

This hammer-home-the-message female empowerment triptych takes bite-sized epiphanies and blows them up into thirty-minute Sundance Channel confections.

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
11/22/02
Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp
ToxicUniverse.com

Woefully pretentious.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
11/22/02
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

Dares to look conventional Hollywood wisdom in the eye and refuses to blink

Full Review Source: Countingdown.com | comment Comment
11/22/02
Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll
Countingdown.com

These tales of women slipping out of control -- plucked from director Rebecca Miller's own book of the same name--are delivered in slow, touching and raw ways that'll leave you caring for all involved.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
11/22/02
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Intelligent chick flick.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/22/02
Megan Turner
Megan Turner
New York Post

Personal Velocity has a no-frills docu-Dogma plainness, yet Miller lingers on invisible, nearly psychic nuances, leaping into digressions of memory and desire. She boxes these women's souls right open for us.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/22/02
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

These mini-dramas about women trying to find a way into the future point out how difficult it is for people to accept the generosity and kindness of others.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
11/22/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Even when the movie is over, the psychological physics of Personal Velocity will remain in your head.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
11/21/02
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All three actresses are simply dazzling, particularly Balk, who's finally been given a part worthy of her considerable talents.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/21/02
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Personal Velocity ought to be exploring these women's inner lives, but it never moves beyond their surfaces.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
11/21/02
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

Too often, the grainy digital video format deters from the strong performances.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
11/21/02
Jackie Potts
Jackie Potts
Citysearch

Nothing really happens besides self-introspection and escape, which can be interesting, but here isn't.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
11/21/02
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

The perfect blend of image and narrative.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
11/21/02
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

...creates a visceral sense of its characters' lives and conflicted emotions that carries it far above...what could have been a melodramatic, Lifetime Channel-style anthology.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
11/20/02
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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