Rating: 
Summary: Read the Book
Review: I have to disagree with "flickjunkie". I thought this movie was really good. The acting was wonderful throughout and the scenes were gorgeous. The suicides were a by product. The movie is about growing up, first loves, obsession and oppression. The statement that suicides are predictable and obvious, thus preventable is ridiculous. That's the point. But, back to my original statement. The Book! I was fortunate enough to have read the book before seeing the movie. The book gives insight that the movie does not. Characters and motivation are more spelled out for those who need it. Read the book and then watch or rewatch the movie. Things will be more clear, background wise and your movie experience will be more enjoyable. But for all intents and purposes this is an excellent movie. It boasts an amazing cast and is moving and haunting.
Rating:
Summary: Math
Review: This film is about the five beautiful Libson sisters who, 25 years ago, comitted suicide rather than living life in the reprissive home afforded them by hysterical mom and math teacher father.
Rating: 
Summary: Unrealized potential
Review: When the debut of a director is bigger news than the film itself, you need to prepare yourself for a disappointment. Sophia Coppola directs this slow moving film that is a cross between "The Wonder Years" and "Inventing the Abbots" only with a tragic twist. It is the story about five attractive teenage sisters with an oppressive mother (Kathleen Turner), whose over protectiveness drives them all to tragic ends. Along the way, we have a typical coming of age story with awkward teenagers obsessing over members of the opposite sex despite their parents' misgivings. Though charming at times, the story really doesn't offer a fresh perspective on anything but the suicide angle, and that lacks basis. Coppola, who also wrote the screenplay based on a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is so focused on the coming of age aspect that she completely neglects the motivational foundation for the suicides. Other than Lux (Kirsten Dunst), we get zero character development of the rest of the sisters. They all seem to be normal, well-adjusted teens, and then one day they self-destruct. Perhaps the message is supposed to be that suicide can happen to anyone without warning, but that is not how it really happens. Usually, there are warning signs that are being ignored. We should have seen hints of such problems with each of the girls. Instead, we see four of the sisters whose characters are totally undeveloped and who, in the end, turn out to be little more than anonymous body count. In this regard, the film lacks subtlety and depth. To Coppola's credit, the photography was beautifully done and the seventies were well captured. The teen scenes were done sensitively and realistically, with coy enticements by the girls and false bravado by the boys. However, the pace was wormlike. When the film was finished, I was sure it was over two hours, when in fact it was just 90 minutes. The acting was generally good by the teens. Kirsten Dunst was marvelous as Lux, the coquettish daughter who routinely invites boys for sexual adventures on the roof of her house. Josh Hartnett also gives a terrific performance as Lux's first love interest. Kathleen Turner's character was more a looming presence than a dynamic force, but she portrayed the character well. James Woods was fabulous as her obsequious husband, the nerdy math professor who tried to convince his wife to let the girls have a little fun. This film had much greater potential than was realized. I can't agree with all the rave reviews. Sophia Coppola did a good job for a directorial debut, especially with the photography, but made some rookie mistakes in pacing and foundation that diminished the film. I rated it a 6/10.
Rating: 
Summary: virginal beauty
Review: When I first saw the ad for this, I only wanted to see it because of Kirsten Dunst, I mean the girl is hot. Anywayz, when I saw it, I really loved its beauty and it really made the whole movie seems so pure and beautiful even though of its sad subject matter. It is interesting to see the parents downward spiral into depression and denial. Very humorful, very tragic, very beautiful. One thing I did not like was how the debutante party at the end, it did not tie in the movie together very well Other than that, its perfect
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing! Especially for a first time director.
Review: Sofia Coppola's story of the 5 Lisbon girls, as told in retrospect from the boys who adored them from afar, is very possibly the best film of 2000. After one of them commits suicide, we're drawn into the secret lives of the girls shut in by their overbearing mother. Even before they are physically gone, they only exist on distant, ethereal pedestals. Coppola goes far beyond the average teen flick and has given us an exploration of the end of childhood innocence (no matter what age it happens at). Turner and Woods are especially good against type and Josh Hartnett's Trip Fontaine is a perfect foil. You will watch this one over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable Debut for Director Sofia Coppola!
Review: 'The Virgin Suicides' is a beautiful, understated, and tragic drama, punctuated by great rock music of the late '70s, and featuring terrific performances, particularly by Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartlett, and a nearly unrecognizable Kathleen Turner. What makes the film even more remarkable is that it is the directorial debut by Francis Ford Coppola's daughter, Sofia, best known prior to this by her less-than-stellar performance in 'Godfather 3'! Her sensitivity with this material establishes her as a director to be reckoned with, and a true talent! The film focuses on the five Lisbon sisters, beautiful, yet repressed by a religious and overly protective mother (Turner), who encourages their intellectual growth, but tries to block any sexual or emotional stirrings. The girls turn their passions into other channels, bonding tightly with one another, and viewing the world as outsiders. When the youngest attempts, then succeeds at killing herself, the family gains an unwanted notoriety, and a group of local boys begin to worship the remaining sisters from afar, gathering materials, and creating a fantasy world about them. Lux, the most beautiful and free-spirited of the sisters (Dunst), attracts the attentions of the most popular boy in school, Tripp (Hartnett), who confuses raging hormones with love, and begins a campaign to 'have' her. Winning the respect of their father (James Woods, in another excellent 'against-type' portrayal), he succeeds in wearing the mother down, and arranges 'dates' for the sisters, so he can take Lux to the Homecoming Dance. The party provides the springboard for the tragedy that gives the film its name, and catapults the girls into icons that the boys who admire them can never forget. There are many reasons to buy this film; Coppola's understanding of how boys and girls interact, and her sure touch with their issues about sexuality; Kirsten Dunst's best performance to date, conveying both sweetness, and barely suppressed erotic desire; Kathleen Turner's breakthrough as a character actress, sacrificing her glamorous persona for a stocky and frumpy matron. There are some excellent cameos, as well, particularly Danny DeVito as a clueless psychiatrist, Scott Glenn as a family priest who offers platitudes instead of comfort, and Michael Paré as an older Tripp, reminiscing about Lux, and their 'love'. This is a very special film, one that you will not soon forget! I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best films of 2000
Review: I saw this movie one night when I was extremely bored and had nothing else to do. So when a friend suggested this movie, which I had heard nothing about, I figured anything would be better than sitting around. From the moment the opening scene started, I just knew that this film would become a classic. Finally, a film that does not stick to the common HollyWood template for a film. The story of 5 sisters, who all eventually commit suicide, mixed with excellent acting by Kirsten Dunst, Kathleen Turner, James Woods, and even Danny Devito, and one of THE BEST film scores this year by AIR, easily make this film one of my favorites of this year. I would be very surprised if the score alone isn't at least up for consideration for an Oscar. I look forward to many more films by Sofia Coppola, who obviously learned something from her father.
Rating:
Summary: "dont let it die a virgin"
Review: "everyone dated the demise of our neighbourhood from the suicides of the lisbon girls. people saw their clairvoyance in the whiped out elms and the harsh sunlight. some thought that tortures tearing the lisbon girls pointed to a simple refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws. but the only thing we are certain of after all these years is the insuffienciency of information..." in the last 24 hours i have watched the virgin suicides twice. good movie i must say. there's really weird type of melodramatic-abstract mental ideas/poetry/mystery. its a great film, not the happiest film-- but then again sometimes watching reality is sometimes more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Slick and Empty
Review: Based upon the chilling cult novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, "The Virgin Suicides" has been brought to the screen by none other then Sophia Coppola, who sadly exhibits little talent beyond that of set-dresser. Unfolding in the 1970s in an affluent Michigan suburb, and charting the downward spiral of five virginal sisters, the film's antiseptic visual scheme may remind you of "The Ice Storm," and yet there the similarities end. Though Coppola gets all the exterior details right, it's the innards that are missing - that quivering sense of impending emotional horror so crucial to the novel's success. There's nothing lurking beneath Coppola's fussed-over surfaces here, so it's left up to the performers to fill in all the blanks. They can't, of course, and it's not for lack of talent. In yet another vivid performance as one of the doomed sisters, Kirsten Dunst virtually embodies late 70s teen angst, while Kathleen Turner, who's quietly rebuilding a once flagging career, comes through with icy perfection as the girls' willfully oblivious WASP Mother.
Rating:
Summary: A great film with much strength
Review: At first I thought that "The Virgin Suicides" would be an awful film because it was directed by Sofia Coppola, and we all remember her "performance" in "The Godfather Part III." While watching the film, I saw that she is a brilliant director. The way she shoots some scenes looks very photographic-like, and the way in which she injects portions of songs is very original. The story of Lisbon sister is indeed a sad one, and is very well acted by the always beautiful Kirstin Dunst, as well as the other four sisters. Kathleen Turner and James Woods give amazing performances as the parents of the sisters. A must add to the DVD collection.
| 
