Dalbert Pringle From a purely visual perspective - Far From Heaven is a truly mesmerizing "retro-film" experience. With excellent camerawork, lighting, and meticulous attention to detail, this super-lush movie production is a dazzling re-creation of a 1950's soap opera "dreamworld" set in the upper middle-class suburbs of Hartford, Connecticut.Far From Heaven is a finely-tuned weeper about forbidden desires, denial and racial boundaries. Its story peels back the layers from the "Stepford Wife" Syndrome of the 1950's that has lodged itself firmly into our collective consciousness. Far From Heaven dares to suggest that "soap opera" might actually be regarded as something socially relevant.When seriously considering this film's storyline - Far Form Heaven really is 'far-from-heaven', alright - That's for sure - In fact, from the main character's point of view, it's all pretty well close to hell.

Irishchatter I found this movie was quite disturbing since it was all to do with problems they had back then in the 1950's - homosexuality and racism. I swear, the way they talk about how disgusting it was, it just was so cruel and horrible!Julianne Moore's character Cathy Whitaker would have been better off with the gardener Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert) because honestly, their chemistry was so uplifting and sweet. I honestly wish they both had a happy ending together because I would be giving this movie another star if that scene ever happened but it didn't, so it lost one star from me! I wish we could look more on the husbands life. I say that would be interesting since it wasn't talked about in the 50's! I have to say folks, the music in the movie is great! So if you need a Sunday night movie, watch this!

Ben Larson "Some of my best friends are..." You fill in the blank It is sometimes heard from those whose espouse liberal philosophy, but have no real experience in dealing with those that are different.You could be liberal in the 50s, but it often was liberal in name only. Seldom were you faced with the reality of differences.Well, Cathy (Julianne Moore) had it all full in her face when she caught her husband (Dennis Quaid) with another man. In the 50s, the first step was conversion therapy, often with electro-shock treatments. It wasn't until 1973, that the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder.Cathy is soon faced with her views towards other races when she sees her gardener (Dennis Haysbert) at an art show. Her so-called "liberal" friends certainly show their prejudices, but she is not much better.Circumstances push her into a relationship with Raymond (Haybert), and things do get interesting.There might be sexual differences, and cultural differences, and racial differences, but the first and most important difference is determined at birth – whether you're a boy or a girl. Everything in Cathy's life is defined by her very femaleness. As much as the men in the film are going through all kinds of things, they're the ones who manage to go on. Cathy is the one left behind, because she is female.

Red_Identity I decided to seek this one out because of Julianne Moore. I thought it would be just another well-acted period drama. What I didn't know was that Todd Haynes was behind it, and from the opening the film lets you know what kind of style it will be. It's not one of those stuffy period dramas. In fact, it's very much made in the style of actual 1950s films. It's apparently taking on the style of Douglas Sirks' films, and even though I have never seen one, the style is apparent. This is the definition of a melodrama, but it serves the purpose completely and not the type of melodrama you would expect in this day and age. Everything is heightened in it's intensity. The incredible cinematography and use of colors is something to marvel at, and in terms of how the cinematography was constructed I don't think any other film could compare to. The beautiful music score is perfect and it only makes the atmosphere richer. All of this serves as a backdrop to a film that's really about contemporary issues in the 50s. That in itself has been the focus of many films in the last few years, but Far From Heaven stands apart from them all. The screenplay is brilliantly written, infusing rich backgrounds and characterization to all of the characters. In fact, the plot is pretty straight-forward and something you would see in classic films of that era, but now it feels fresh, alive with excitement. It's never depressing, and instead it tells its story until a satisfying conclusion. It's probably one of the best screenplays of its decade.The performances are also perfect. But Julianne Moore tops off this perfection. I was surprised by how little "big" scenes she has. I would have expected this film to, but then again that's just another surprise. She embodies this character completely, and now that we have all of these flawed and unlikable leads, here we have one who we can easily call a "hero". Someone who others could look up to, we instantly connect with Moore. Overall, Far From Heaven is the 2nd Haynes film I have seen (the other being I'm Not There), and still his ambition is as apparent as ever. This feels as unique of a film as one could hope for.