It's Los Angeles in 1951 and Laura Brown (JULIANNE MOORE) is a depressed housewife. Despite having a loving husband, Dan (JOHN C. REILLY), and young son, Richie (JACK ROVELLO), Laura feels that nothing about her and the choices she's made is right. A visit by an ailing neighbor, Kitty (TONI COLLETTE), doesn't help matters.
It's New York City, 2001, and Clarissa Vaughan (MERYL STREEP) is a book editor who's busy planning a party for her former lover, Richard (ED HARRIS), who's in the last stages of dying from AIDS. He's dubbed her "Mrs. Dalloway" due to her need to throw parties and look after others, but she's not particularly happy with herself. As her live-in lover, Sally (ALLISON JANNEY), looks on, and as daughter, Julia (CLAIRE DANES), and old friend, Louis (JEFF DANIELS), show up for the festivities, Clarissa finds her world unraveling.
As the three stories crisscross each other, the three women in them try to come to grips with themselves, they choices they've made, and how things have turned out for them.
Overall, the film is rather gloomy and depressing, and thematic elements include suicide (2 characters commit it and one nearly does), depression and mental illness, and AIDS (1 character is dying from it and looks very sick). Some of that material could be disturbing or unsettling for some viewers. Meanwhile, some tense family material is present and several characters smoke.
If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.
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(2002) (Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore) (PG-13)
Alcohol/
DrugsBlood/Gore
Disrespectful/
Bad AttitudeFrightening/
Tense ScenesGuns/
Weapons
*None
Minor
Moderate
Mild
None
Imitative
BehaviorJump
ScenesMusic
(Scary/Tense)Music
(Inappropriate)Profanity
Mild
None
None
None
Heavy
Sex/
NuditySmoking
Tense Family
ScenesTopics To
Talk AboutViolence
Mild
Moderate
Moderate
Heavy
Mild
CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.
(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).
Reviewed December 11, 2002 / Posted January 10, 2003
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