jamesart-439-537740 A strangely compelling, end of world tale, that could easily have gone astray but did not, due to the intimacy of the relationships told through exquisite writing and performances. Told in a mosaic fashion that builds to create a beautiful whole, the film first intrigues and then, inch by inch, draws you in. Wonderful performances all round from veterans and newcomers alike. ( Always a sign of an excellent director.) Frank Langella, Gena Rowlands shine in the mature, understated way of older greats. Josh Hartnett also brought something special to his role, as did Rosario Dawson. But it was Theresa Palmer who brought an exquisitely luminous and fragile element to her role and really brought true soul to the whole movie. An actress well worth keeping an eye out for.A movie that transcends its not so uplifting subject matter to somehow create an uplifting movie, in a melancholy kind of way. Welll worth a deeper look.

gpeltz But with a Whimper, that is how the world ends" So wrote TS Eliot. Spoiler Alert, some plot points revealed. I have seen many of the, "End of the World" scenarios played out, of late. This one takes a more intimate approach then many, closer in spirit to movies like, "Melancholia" which only hinted at the global repercussions. Three or more couples, journey to meet their fate. The cutting from past to present,to a possible future, is done seemingly randomly, As is the mixing and interweaving of each couples background recollections. It's all here folks, the love and the tears, the hopes and the fears, only in the end to seem pathetic and meaningless. with the exception of the little girl shot, which if showing the future offers the possibility of redemption. Ultimately it did get wearisome, toward the end, even all the passionate embraces could not enliven. I am grateful for these independent films to hire senior actors,and younger actors too. There were a few touching moments, scenes well played, I liked the soap label scene, having had personally met Dr Bronner, of the "All One" persuasion. I thought the "sick boy" parable was creditable.I suppose my biggest objection with, "Parts in a Billion" was the seeming haphazard editing. For example; We see a nurses body, and then we flashback to get the story of the nurse. Things like that made the events anti climatic. Not a good story telling device. The actors took their parts in earnest, the film was capably shot, with good production values, The music was marginal, pared down to suit the action. last word, Yeah, it was a depressingly serious little movie.

Tony Heck "Nothing is left. The radio stopped. There's no more planes or helicopters. When's the last time we heard anything other then birds?" After a man made virus escapes the entire world is threatened. The fast moving and fast acting bug is bringing about the end of the world with no hope for a cure. Three couples each deal with it in their own way. Even though their stories and experiences are different they realize that life revolves around one thing, love. For some reason ideas and plots for movies seem to come in clumps and no matter what they get made back to back to back. Armageddon and Deep Impact came out very close together. So did Volcano & Dante's Peak, Olympus Has Fallen & White House Down, and Legend Of Hercules and soon Hercules. This movie is part of the new up and coming trend, movies about a man made virus that causes the apocalypse. Contagion, It's A Disaster, Goodbye World and the more recent ones just to name a few. All of them have their good qualities but like so many copy cat movies they are never as good as the original. This one is no exception. Overall, good movie with a very good cast but it is very depressing so you must be in the mood for it. Not as good as Contagion. I give this a B-.

softermaniac This movie is not sci-fi and it's not an end of the world disaster movie as the title seems to suggest. I think its abysmal rating is because people are going into it thinking it's a certain kind of end of the world, doom and destruction movie and then they find out it's not that at all. Not by a long shot. This is a romance/drama film that tries its darnedest to be deep. This is one of those interconnected drama movies along the veins of: Crash, Magnolia, The Air I Breathe and Happiness. So if you're into that sort of style, plotting and character driven storytelling you'll almost definitely like this. If not, you'll most likely find it tedious, boring and depressing.