Joe Daniels I love the fact that this movie didn't follow the typical "Something bad happens then I learn from my mistakes and get the girl" theme. It was a movie of learning things about yourself and making mistakes along the way. "Knowing is half the battle" they say and this movie illustrates that quote perfectly.The character Bobby has always been himself no matter the situation. Even when things got 'hot' between Johns mother and him his faith never wavered for a second. The entire movie I kept waiting for the moment when he would put the moves on her and was very relieved when he didn't.Making Bobby and Jonathan bisexual and homosexual puts that twist on it to where it can't be a typical story. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this film really brings to light events that actually happen in real life, that everything doesn't just magically get fixed; you just learn from your problems and deal with them as they come.

wes-connors "Remember your very best friend in high school, the one who knew… and kept… all your secrets? Bobby and Jonathan, who shared that kind of friendship, meet again as adults in New York. Sparked by their relationship with free-spirited Clare, they forge a loving unit that redefines 'family'. Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Sissy Spacek and Dallas Roberts star in this lyrical film that's both a celebration of commitment and a music - and memory-driven portrait of America in the '70s and '80s. Adapted by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham from his own novel, 'A Home at the End of the World' strikes close to home as an adventure as big as life itself: risky, surprising, sexually charged and real," according to sleeve scribers...That description, while not entirely inaccurate, hints at how "A Home at the End of the World" fails to achieve its full potential. The film isn't altogether a "memory-driven portrait" of family and music over the decades covered; indeed, it is a portrait of an unconventional family unit, but that should have remained secondary. At heart, this is a love (the kind including a sexual attraction) story between the Bobby and Jonathan characters, possibly deemphasized to make it more palatable. The focus unravels, especially after Mr. Farrell's adult Bobby take over the action. The film draws its fault line by losing touch with the central relationship, and Farrell's characterization goes off course. Freed-from-the-wig Colin Farrell and Dallas Roberts could have recorded a hit version of "Look Out, Cleveland" with The Band backing...The casting is excellent, with Erik Smith and Harris Allan especially winning as the teenage Bobby and Jonathan; they blend perfectly with the grown-up Farrell and Mr. Roberts. Note that criticisms of Farrell in the lead role are of characterization, not acting. Smith's Bobby was played as a self-assured and sexual adventurous young man, but Farrell's Bobby is suddenly an asexual puppy dog; something is missing. We begin with an uncommonly artistic story, from Mr. Cunningham's novel. Cunningham worked on the film; a double edged sword, for it reveals not only tantalizing bits of his artistic vision, but also invites criticism regarding its execution. The fine original story is still evident on film, and some cinematic moments give the material emotional strength...A highlight occurs when Smith and Allan become "brothers" by exchanging jackets; most importantly, the jacket worn by Bobby belonged to his brother, and he symbolically replaces Carlton (a sexually-charged Ryan Donowho) with Jonathan. This is a circular story. Note we begin with "Bobby" walking in on his brother having sex with a young woman (on top); this scene is recalled when he walks in on his replacement brother, again with a woman (on top). In both instances, Bobby winds up in bed with brother. There is no evidence of incest, but the opening brother/brother relationship appears extremely intimate, as does the later relationship between Bobby and replacement "mother" Alice (an easily potted Sissy Spacek). This story is about replacing lost love. We end with a full circle...******* A Home at the End of the World (6/9/04) Michael Mayer ~ Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Robin Wright, Sissy Spacek

Marcko Zaminio Bobby (Colin Farrell) is a sweet spirited individual who sees the world in a haze of naive innocence despite the tragedies that have defined much of his life. He is a survivor and he has no limits in his ability to love and to make his life happy as well as the lives of those he loves. Bobby knows "It's a big, beautiful, noisy world," but "There's nothing to fear." He is the kind of person that so many of us aspire to be - eternally optimistic and always anticipating the wonders of the future.There is a home at the end of the world for Bobby. It is there for all of us as well as long as we open our eyes to see it and open our hearts to let it in.

tnrcooper I learned that this film was based on a Michael Cunningham novel after I'd seen it and I remembered how over-the-top and melodramatic I'd found one of his previous works, "The Hours". I had looked forward to that film because it featured some great actors, including Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore but I was disappointed because I thought that there was insufficient reason to care about the plight of the characters as the film progressed. I found the same with this film, in spite of excellent acting. I thought the nuanced explication of the characters' complex sexuality was very well-done, but I did not feel strongly enough about most of the characters to care. Consequently, I found much of the film unmoving. I didn't think the depth or the contours of the relationships among the three main leads was sufficiently established that one cared enough about Clare's (Robin Wright Penn) departure. I found the earlier parts of the film, during which Johnny's (Dallas Roberts) character and Bobby's (Colin Farrell) were becoming friends and were growing up, to be more interesting than the section in which they were adults.That said, as with "The Hours", the acting, this time from Colin Farrell, Sissy Spacek, and Robin Wright Penn was excellent. Farrell has shown himself in "Tigerland" and "In Bruges", in "Miami Vice" and "Phone Booth" to be a very versatile and capable actor and this film required a great deal of depth, for which Farrell was never found wanting. It truly was a magnificent performance. Sissy Spacek was fantastic. She seems born to act and that was no less true in this film, in which her suburban routine is upended by Bobby's openness. Robin Wright Penn oozes charisma and I thought she did that excellently here, transforming in the course of the film from a bohemian hipster to a hip mother. At the heart of her character was decency and love and I thought that essence remained constant through the film. My only critique of the acting was that I found Dallas Howard to be a bit passive and bland.I haven't read any of the books, but as with "The Hours", I found the film adaptation to be overly dramatic without giving me as a viewer sufficient reason to care about the emotional plight of the characters.