lasttimeisaw An ingénue nymphomaniac's turbulent life rooted in the 1930s depression period of southern USA, served as a housemaid in a hotel owner's home, our heroine Rose, an uncultured but stalwart gal whose miserable past is the hidden wound cuts her deep and being unaware of her sex-addicted disposition, her path of looking for Mr. Right is rather bumpy and poignant. The film is narrated by Buddy, the eldest son of the hotel owner, Rose is his first love and always occupies a special place in his heart. Although Rose is the potent pillar of the film, female director Martha Coolidge has steadily integrates a handful of equally vivid characters (young Buddy, his Daddy and Mother) into a moderate template of chanelling and rescuing Rose from her self-destructive hazard, despite of wanting any laudable gambits in highlighting the narrative skills and the plot is always stuck into a hoary frivolousness, the complete work is at best satisfactory.The film is noteworthy by setting a record in the history of the academy by virtue of a real mother-daughter pair garners two Oscar nominations in the same film, Dern and Ladd (a second collaboration in a film after Lynch's WILD AT HEART 1990, 7/10) both showcase their stunning acting bent. Dern has nailed a quite innately delicate role since Rose is the damaged goods by nature, but her pure kindness and innocence hasn't been impaired and her female vulnerability is the real gem under the circumstance, even if she would mature gracefully later and give a more challenging and nail-biting performance in Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE (2006, 7/10), this film is among the crests of her filmography nonetheless. Ladd, after the pompous and lavish turn in WILD AT HEART, unexpectedly chooses a more positive and orthodox good-lady embodiment, her award-worthy moment confidently present itself in the latter part of the film, and single- handedly salvaging Rose from the misogyny from seedy male-predominance. But Duvall is also glittering in his category-fraud (I put him in leading) portrait of a man who is much wiser than he initially appears, and a juvenile Lukas Haas, almost being provocative while driven by curious sex impulse to take advantage of Rose, which might be the most contentious segment of the film per se, and at least he acts like a pro. My final conclusion is that regardless of its maternal inclination of female-skewing demography, it is indeed a thespian playing field with decent fodder.

jana_obrien If Buddy was 13 in the 30's (when the majority of the story took place), he would have been in his 50's in the 70's (when the story was supposed to end). The grown up Buddy who appears at the end of the movie was MAYBE in his early to mid 30's. In reality, he'd have actually been about 20 years older. Other than that, cute movie coming from a Southerner. Usually, Im picky about movies taking place in the South. For example, I hated Julia Roberts fake accent in Steel Magnolias. It irritated me because she IS from the South, and STILL found it necessary to over exaggerate a Southern Accent. Overall, cute movie. Didn't even know it existed until I walked in on my mother watching it. Laura and Diane (real life mother & daughter) are cute in it together.

Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) Which is a shame considering there was so much to like. Laura Dern's performance is astonishing as the Rose of the title who has a shady past and comes to live with a family headed up by Robert Duvall and Diane Lane (her real life mother) who gives a wonderful performance also.The story is a cobweb, if story it is, I haven't read the novel,and the plot is character driven all the way.The sexual content is handled sensitively and the fact that Rose is a 'nymphomaniac' of the era - i.e. she loves sex - is understood and tolerated by the family.The eldest child, Buddy, is played by Lukas Haas who has many good performances to his credit - and has never turned down a movie role since he was five - who has an evil streak according to his mother but keeps certain secrets about Rose along with his father who also has secrets.An amazingly tolerant and lovable family headed by a father with integrity - which was a bit of a stumble for me as Robert Duvall's incessant smirking does not translate as such to me. I find it irksome - and confusing. I would have preferred a different actor in that part a la Leslie Howard from the forties.The sepia cinematography was breathtaking and the street scenes amazing as were the two actors who played the younger children.The wraparound of the story didn't work at all. Rose deserved more that a verbal dismissal at the end. And the mother vanished inexplicably. Now there was a character. Too bad the viewer wasn't respected a little more.6 out of 10 for all that.

happymaryellen Robert Duvall was splendid in this movie. I do not want to ruin it for people watching, so I can not tell you much but his acting was great as well as Laura Dern. What a dynamic and thought provocative movie with so many interesting twists that are unexpected. The wife was really good too. The morals of it, the conflicts, the family. This movie had it all, love, conflict, compassion, passion and all great acting too! I would imagine if this movie is a book I should read it actually. The nuances were subtle and well done, it did address some touchy topics as well. The young boy actor really was well cast too. I guess all in all, the casting was super, the dialog was well done and the way they captured the south was excellent as well.