Rating: 
Summary: Don't burn your bridges...
Review: Love stories are not my usual cup of tea. I usually prefer science-fiction/horror/fantasy/action/comedy, in that order. All these genres generally have a love interest, of course, but it's usually subsidiary to the main plot. But when a friend of mine told me that she'd read the novel this movie is based on several times, it piqued my interest. Any novel worth rereading must be pretty good, I thought. So I bought the book and read it, and it was pretty good. I liked it, and when the movie showed up on cable TV I saw it, and liked it, too. I think the movie is even better than the book. So I bought this DVD edition. And it, too, is good, if all you want is to see the movie. The special features are lackluster, to say the least. The movie is not in widescreen format. It starts with English subtitles, requiring you to use the menu to cancel this feature each time. And the menus are not that easy to use, due to poor highlighting, There are no commentaries by anyone, no trailer, no previews, no deleted scenes or outtakes, etc. The production notes have some nice photos, but the text is hard to read on a small screen TV, as are the cast biographies. There's the usual scene index, but that's about it. If you just want to have a copy of this fine movie, you might consider buying the somewhat cheaper VHS version. This DVD edition is not too impressive. But the movie itself is worth watching again in any format!
Rating:
Summary: Bridges of Tears.....
Review: ...and quite a selection of reasons behind the tears as well such as dissappointment when the protagonists don't do what we want them to and at other times they are tears of boredom. This very slow and in places dull film about a chance meeting between a National Geographic photographer with an intimacy complex and a bored, unsatisfied housweife redeems itself considerably with the scene where Robert (Eastwood) stands in the rain waiting for Francesca (Streep) and then waits for her in the lorry. It was dealt with all the intensity and intrigue necessary for that scene to work and paid dividends but the rest of the film does take a while to get into and I got the distinct feeling that this was really a re-working of Casablanca than a film in it's own right. Also, I didn't find the film made it quite clear exactly why those two people got it together it just sort of put it on a plate and expected us to get it. Eastwood, however, gives an interesting and convincing performance which makes a pleasant change from his normally, very wooden action films. He certainly can handle alternative roles and is apt at directing (Eastwood blatantly works better when he is directing himself). Not bad, but I wouldn't rush out and buy the video.
Rating: 
Summary: LUST AND BETRAYAL
Review: I gave it two stars because of the outstanding performances of Streep and Eastwood, otherwise I would have given it only one star. So! It seems many reviewers went through boxes and boxes of Kleenex tissue while watching this movie. I found the story line quite sobering and depressing. Francesca has been married for twenty years or more to a faithful husband who loves her, and while he is away on a camping trip with the kids, lo and behold, she plays tiddly-winks behind her husband's back with a roaming, divorced photographer because she is bored with her existence. Well, isn't that a shame! What happened to her vows, "Until death do us part?" The plot was so inane, it was embarrassing. And what a legacy she left for her kids! She recorded her affair. Please! I would rather not have seen the film. It left me feeling not too good about the human race.
Rating: 
Summary: A triple triumph for Eastwood with no shots fired
Review: This 1995 film, BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, stars Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, and was also produced and directed by the former. If you're used to seeing Clint in his belligerent Dirty Harry or Man With No Name persona, then you're likely to be enormously surprised by his triple triumph in this sensitive film in which nary a shot is fired or punch thrown. The Streep character, Francesca Johnson, was an Italian war bride brought back to Iowa in 1945 by the soldier whose heart she captured. Twenty years later, she lives on a farm with her middle-aged husband and teenage son and daughter. Long since before, she's had to give up her career as a teacher because her spouse, an otherwise gentle and considerate man, doesn't approve of a working wife. She lives, without dreams or passion, a life of quiet desperation. Then along comes the Eastwood character, Robert Kincaid, during a period when Francesca is home alone, the rest of the family off to the State Fair in neighboring Illinois. Kincaid is a photographer for National Geographic, his current assignment to photograph the local covered BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. The divorced Kincaid is the quintessential wanderer, at home wherever in the world he finds himself at the moment, taking his experiences and relationships as they come. During the four days of her family's absence, Francesca falls deeply in love with Robert, and he with her. In him, she rediscovers her dreams of the wider world long denied her in rural Iowa. In her, he discovers the personal and emotional commitment that he professes not to need. When Francesca must choose between Robert and her family, Duty, Responsibility and Loyalty battle with the Heart for the outcome. The scene towards the end of the film in her husband's pick-up truck, wherein Francesca displays wrenching mental turmoil and emotional anguish over a decision that she must make immediately, is, by itself, an Oscar caliber performance by Streep. Is Francesca's decision a tragedy or moral victory? At the moment of her choice, how much of what she was and could have been was irretrievably lost? Perhaps hindsight and reason might provide the answer. But, the heart will never really know, will it? And the mind will play "what if" games till time and expectations run out.
Rating:
Summary: LIKE A FINE WINE IT JUST GETS BETTER
Review: This is one of those movies where it feels so good to feel so bad. I didn't like this movie the first time I saw it but I think you must watch it more than once to appreciate it. For anyone that has lived in a small community like Francesa and lived on a farm and felt the isolation you can relate to this movie. I'm not saying that justifies cheating on your spouse but you see how it could happen. You are a lonely farmwife and a charming photographer shows up on your doorstep. Hello! Client Eastwood was perfect in this role and is extremely sexy. Meryl Streep is awesome. To me this movie isn't just a romance about Francesa and Robert although that part of the movie is excellent but also about how Francesa's children came to understand who their mother really was. I cried as much at that point in the movie as I did when Francesa sees Robert standing in the rain and the expressions on their faces when they realize they will never see each other again. When people complain that the scenes cutting back to the kids are boring to me they are not. It tells another part of the story and brings you back to the present showing how at first the kids are angry and upset about what their mother did. By the end of the movie they understand why she did what she did and what she gave up for them because she loved them and as her last gift to them it frees them to move on and make decisions in their own lives. Their mother gave them the courage to take the bull by the horn and appreciate life now before it's too late. They learn that their mother was so much more than they ever knew. These actors were excellent also. When Francesa receives the box in the mail from Robert and saw that he never forgot her it's almost too much to bear. You can feel what she's thinking and what might have been. But that, of course, would have been a different movie altogether. This movie reminds me in some ways of The Horse Whisperer and I didn't like that movie at first either. But the more I see both of these movies the more I learn to appreciate them.
Rating:
Summary: The Bridges of Madison County
Review: I watched "The Bridges of Madison County" for the 3rd time. It ranks, IMHO, as a masterpiece for it's real,moving and profound "certainty that comes but once in a lifetime" up through the last Zen aerial pullaway. IMHO, it ranks with Barfly,Raging Bull, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Juliet of the Spirits, Streetcar Named Desire, Citizen Kane, etc. It is as feeling and accurate as a Shakespear sonnet. I found the characters, plot,message and chemistry compelling, instinctive, accurate,and real . The script was flawlessly coherent. There was no pretense and the ingenious economy of dialogue was profoundly insightful. It's a successfully cathartic romantic tear jerker. In my book, it says and feels it all.
Rating:
Summary: Para Diana Posada
Review: Hola. Espero que para cuando leas esto ya hayas visto la película. Lo importante de rescatar de ella es que Francesca tiene una vida BUENA pero no satisfactoria. Con Robert puede tener lo que busca, pero aunque se anime a arriesgarse, Francesca sabe que se debe a la familia que ya había conformado... Diana, ¿Dónde está tu anillo? ¿Dónde están tus hijos? ¿De que lado de la luna está el corazón? Pocas veces se presenta una oportunidad así dos veces. A Francesca se le dio y las dos las rechazó (la escena de los autos y el retrovisor). Si dices que no, talvez no haya tiempo para una tercera vez. Si dices que no, que sea porque en realidad estás segura de que eso quieres. Ya no estoy en libertad de decir más, así que pase lo que pase, ojalá al menos hayas disfrutado una película que demuestra que no todo el cine "hollywoodense" es para las masas. Hasta entonces. Artefice di Pioggia.
Rating:
Summary: Para Diana Posada
Review: Lo que quiero que más prestes atención a esta película es el hecho de que Francesca tiene algo BUENO, pero que no la hace sentir conforme; no la llena. Con Robert podría tener eso, pero por deberse a la familia que conforma, no puede irse con él a pesar de las oportunidades claras de hacerlo. ¿Diana, dónde está el anillo? ¿Dónde están tus hijos? ¿Dónde debería estar el corazón? Hay oportunidades en la vida que difícilmente se dan más de una vez... a Francesca la misma oportunidad se le presentó dos veces (la escena de los autos es la segunda). Si dices que no, talvez no haya tiempo de una tercera oportunidad. Si dices que no, que sea porque no lo dudas. No hay más que esté en libertad de decirte, así que bueno, pase lo que pase, ojalá al menos hayas disfrutado la película. Un beso y un abrazo. Artefice di Pioggia.
Rating:
Summary: Believe it or not - a Horror film !
Review: Don't pretend not to accept my title. I've realized this only recently,though it has been on my mind from the very first time I had seen it.Let me clear up the main idea ; For starters,this picture represents the most deepest fears of ,naturally ,all of us that are young,looking for love,in this long twilight struggle, not to mention those people ,who thought they'd found it,to later discover how wrong they were. It's frightening and painful to watch Francesca and Robert,a man and a women in their fifties and sixties - still not satisfed with what they've accomplished in life.Even though the actions taken are made in the 60's,many things remain unchanged,maybe worse.The story is still relevant. Why did I write horror? You may enjoy the whole concept,as myself,without relating to it's ending. Nonetheless, the finale is the point where the horror surfaces.I know it's hard to accept this thinking because you wouldn't naturally head that direction.You may think to yourself you will never get to the dilema of Franchesca,and if you will, you'll do better than her.Sorry,it ain't that simple.Once you realize this point,you feel the chill spreading from your back forward to the rest of your body,and suddenly it's very cold... Finally,all the rest of the reviewers who rated it high were right,everything is true.I just wanted to share something that might be consciously ignored,or not well defined by some of us.
Rating: 
Summary: A real tearjerker....
Review: This is a story of what could happen when someone settles for less when they're young, and later on in life, they find the real thing. This is just what happens to the two pivotal characters, Robert and Francesca, in this film. It moves a bit slowly, but it is a very engaging story about a ill-fated romance between older adults, starting in the mid-'60s, and ending only when one of them passes away...and not even then! If you like to cry at movies, then this is definitely one you should pick up. By the time the film ends, you would've went through a box of Kleenex!
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