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MOVIES / ON DVD / STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING
Starting Out in the Evening

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Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

86%
100%
90%
N/A
N/A
N/A
86 %
Reviews Counted: 90 Fresh: 77  Rotten:13 Average Rating: 7.3/10
 
Consensus: A sharp drama with standout performances. Starting Out in the Evening features sharp dialogue and moving performances from the talented Frank Langella and Lili Taylor. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Synopsis:
Though he's spent most of his career as a character actor in supporting roles, Frank Langella gives the lead performance of a lifetime in STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, based on the novel by Brian Morton. Flanked by Lili Taylor and Lauren Ambrose, Langella is the central piece in a film that... [More]
Though he's spent most of his career as a character actor in supporting roles, Frank Langella gives the lead performance of a lifetime in STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, based on the novel by Brian Morton. Flanked by Lili Taylor and Lauren Ambrose, Langella is the central piece in a film that focuses on its characters. The film begins with aging writer Leonard Schiller (Langella, SUPERMAN RETURNS), a man who feels as obsolete as the typewriter he is pounding away at. Though he has four novels to his credit, he has been working on his fifth for a decade. Enter Heather Wolfe (Ambrose, SIX FEET UNDER), a grad student who plans to write her thesis on Schiller's work. She cajoles the reluctant man into helping her, and they begin a curious friendship. Meanwhile, Schiller's daughter Ariel (Taylor, SIX FEET UNDER) struggles not only with her elderly father, but also with her own desire to have children as she approaches 40. She also grapples with the decision of reconnecting with an ex-boyfriend (Adrian Lester, HUSTLE). As the fading writer Schiller, Langella doesn't give a bold performance that screams for Oscar's attention. Instead, the actor commands the screen with a quiet presence. Heather's attempts at friendship with Schiller--and eventual seduction--may feel awkward at times within the film, but Ambrose's performance is quite genuine. As always, Taylor is impressive, and it's good to see her get a heftier role. The film's other central character is New York's Upper West Side, a player that should receive top billing. Director Andrew Wagner (THE TALENT GIVEN US) allows the neighborhood to play a central role within his engaging film. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Frank Langella, Lili Taylor, Lauren Ambrose, Adrian Lester, Jessica Hecht

Director: Andrew Wagner
Screenwriter: Andrew Wagner, Fred Parnes
Producer: Gary Winick, Jake Abraham, Fred Parnes, Andrew Wagner
Composer: Adam Gorgoni
Producer: Nancy Israel

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 4, 2009

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digiatl 5.1 - English, Spanish
  • Dolby Digital 2.0 - English, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

Slightly too understated, but also thoroughly involving.

Full Review | Comment
12/13/07 03:15 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
04/03/08 03:15 AM
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image

Wagner has turned the page on a promising career, and it will be exciting to see what the next chapter brings.

Full Review | Comment
02/28/08 07:40 AM
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
02/26/08 03:15 AM
Film Threat
Ratings Image

Starting Out in the Evening is thrilling in a way that a movie larded with car chases and explosions can seldom be, because of the way it deals with that basic building block of civilization, the creative process.

Full Review | Comment
02/24/08 11:54 AM
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Ratings Image

Criminally overlooked, this is a great movie, about which I could find no complaint or overt flaw except feeling that Taylor (whom I do love) was mostly a distraction. See it if you can.

Full Review | Comment
02/16/08 11:21 AM
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
Ratings Image

Langella's nuanced performance saves the film; the actor has an understated but powerful role, and he takes full advantage.

Full Review | Comment
02/08/08 01:59 PM
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald
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Wagner's film is an elegy of sorts for that once-mighty beast known as the New York Writer, a creature that now finds itself increasingly marginalized in a world in which readers are getting scarcer and shelf space for serious fiction is dwindling daily.

Full Review | Comment
02/08/08 01:41 PM
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
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It's Langella's performance that anchors the film.

Full Review | Comment
02/07/08 12:27 PM
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
Ratings Image

By and large, Starting Out in the Evening is smart and considered and grown-up and credibly human filmmaking.

Full Review | Comment
02/01/08 01:44 PM
Shawn Levy
Oregonian
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Just may be the best film of 2007 that you've probably never heard of.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/08 09:56 AM
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image

Starting Out in the Evening is just a movie about a dignified old white man who writes novels, slowly, on a typewriter. Clever concept.

Full Review | Comment
01/23/08 04:03 PM
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

What to do with this light, while it lasts? [Director] Wagner's problem is to find an answer to that question and also to offer some resolution to the conflicts of honesty and compromise the movie portrays.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 03:25 PM
Philip Marchand
Toronto Star
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A dry, insightful and sensitive drama.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 03:23 PM
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies
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A strong cast and a literate script make for a refreshingly subtle film.

Full Review | Comment
01/18/08 03:15 AM
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
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This is Frank Langella's movie. He's been given a plum of role, and he bites into it with amazing grace and precision.

Full Review | Comment
01/14/08 03:15 AM
Beverly Berning
culturevulture.net
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[Frank Langella] is a god of sorts to those who've followed his career for 30 years with an appreciation for subtle, forceful acting, and he's at the top of his game in Starting Out in the Evening.

Full Review | Comment
01/11/08 12:41 PM
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
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Watching Frank Langella in this film is like seeing a brilliant new actor give his breakthrough performance.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 10:26 PM
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image

A film so quiet that just the crunch of buttered popcorn might drown out some of its subtleties.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/08 10:25 AM
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image

one of the year's most pleasing films, intelligently written and directed, and featuring a veteran actor giving the performance of his career

Full Review | Comment
01/09/08 11:26 PM
Jay Antani
Perihelion Journal
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