Far From Home - Deeexpus

Far away from home

Advantages: Compelling story
Disadvantages: Main characters are slightly annoying

? Patricia Hall is an author of whom I am vaguely aware from reading reviews of her other books on this review site and others. I didn't have particularly high expectations of her work though, simply because I have read a lot of crime fiction and I am not that easily impressed these days. I was pleasantly surprised. Although not without its flaws, this is a compelling story that had me gripped from beginning to end. The combination of policeman/reporter working in tandem is not exactly new territory - Hilary Bonner has done the same with her Karen Meadows/John Kelly combination. However, it is a combination that works well and creates an interesting storyline - journalists are often able to unearth evidence that the police are not able to get hold of legally, at least in fiction. As characters, Michael Thackeray and Laura Ackroyd are a fairly ...

sunmeilan 18.01.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Death in a Far Country - Patricia Hall

Not that far from heavenly

Advantages: Moore, Haysbert and Haynes' direction
Disadvantages: Quaid is out of his depth and the script can be a touch cliched

Far From Heaven is a beautifully made piece of cinema. Todd Haynes delivers a perfectly crafted homage to 1950's melodramas with a twist of 2000's disfunction. Julianne Moore stars as Cathy Whitaker the model housewife living in suburban late fifties Hartford Connecticut. To the world around her Cathy and her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) have the perfect marriage, family, home and life. Cracks begin to appear when Cathy gets a late night call from the police and has to bail her husband out after he is 'mistaken' for a 'loiterer'. The true extent of Frank's 'loitering' is quickly revealed and Cathy's perfect world starts to fall apart. Cathy finds comfort in the most unlikely of places when her black gardener Raymond Deagon (Dennis Haysbert) catches her crying. The two start to form a friendship under the prying eyes of Cathy ...

Zoe 06.11.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Far From Heaven (DVD)

Far From Heaven

Advantages: Good character performances.
Disadvantages: A bit dull at times and flat ending.

~~The Movie~~ Far From Heaven is a film directed by Todd Haynes and it pays homage to Douglas Sirk. Mr Sirk was famous for making melodramas in the 50?s with a bit of feminine touch. The film is set in the 50?s Hartford, Connecticut and mainly revolves around one family, the Whitakers. In the opening shots you see an aerial view of the town with the scene closing in on Cathy Whitaker picking up her daughter from the ballet class. Everything seems heavenly with the Whitakers. Cathy Whitaker has two perfect children, a boy and a girl, and a loving high-flying sales executive husband with a nice house and plenty of dosh. To the rest of Hartford, Cathy Whitaker is a model suburban wife, not only is she a perfect wife and a mother but also she is a very kind and gentle soul and unlike most white folks she doesn?t hate ...

razmao 21.09.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Far From Heaven (DVD)