Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and very well acted
Review: "Lovely and Amazing" is a vivid portrait of a middle-class American mother and her three daughters. It is sometimes funny and sometimes sad. There are few pat answers here, no moral judgments, and no calls for vengeance against males or society in general. It simply presents some of the problems women face today, then lets the viewer come up with his or her own thoughts on the issues.Jane Marks [Brenda Blethyn] has decided to have liposuction at the age of fiftysomething. She asks her older daughters, Michelle [Catherine Keener] and Elizabeth [Emily Mortimer] to look after the youngest sibling, Lorraine [Aunjanue Ellis], an adopted Afro-American. All of these women have serious issues. Jane is fighting her advancing age. Michelle is an artistic type who has never found a satisfactory outlet for her talents and whose marriage is decidedly rocky. Elizabeth is an actress obsessed with her body, her looks and her image in general. Lorraine has a weight problem and confusion about her identity. This may sound like the ingredients for a soap opera or a dark comedy, but it is neither. It is a deeply etched group of character studies, and one of the most honest and revealing movies about women I have ever seen. Greatly adding to the film's impact are the performances by all of the female leads. In supporting roles, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dermot Mulroney are excellent as the men that Elizabeth and Michelle turn to in their desperation.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't Quite Live Up To Its Potential
Review: "Lovely and Amazing" is an interesting, well-acted film about family and relationships, and the struggles of the individuals in them. I enjoyed it, yet found it a bit unfocused. In the end, it didn't seem quite as cohesive as it should have been. A bit fragmentary, perhaps. I'm not sorry I saw it, and I appreciated the performances of Catherine Keener (always a pleasure), Emily Mortimer, Brenda Blethyn, and Raven Goodwin. The writer and director Nicole Holofcener has talent and I look forward to her next project. I just felt like "Lovely and Amazing" could've been a bit better.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Irritating
Review: "Lovely and Amazing," is a wonderful and irritating little film. To paraphrase Pogo, "We have met the characters and they are us." All the leads in this movie are self-absorbed to the point of audience exhaustion, but at the same time they are all, somehow, likable. They are us, because they are more than us. The filmmakers have held a mirror to nature, and though the image is distorted because it is larger than life, I'd be surprised if every viewer did not find some part of themselves in anyone of the characters. Many of the laughs are generated in moments of audience recognition. The style is naturalistic, and there were scenes in which I felt like a total voyeur. - uncomfortable but strangely attracted. The actors, without exception, inhabit their roles, and bring truth to their characterizations. A good summer movie with more on its mind than most. Recommended. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title
Rating:
Summary: A smart, responsible take on dysfunctional women.
Review: "Lovely and Amazing" is much of what "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" never was. It's about real women, women who make their own beds and lie in them, instead of having one disaster after another thrust upon to make their life miserable. It's about choices; a movie is usually far more exciting when a character makes decisions, instead of having the obvious thrown in their face. Eepecially good is Catherine Keener as a housewife entirely of bereft of ambition outside of erecting her worthless wooden crafts, which she insists on trying to sell for outrageous sums to unsmiling art dealers. Keener -- by choice, I suppose -- has shoehorned herself into playing the square peg in the round hole -- a sardonic, mouthy type who knows and thinks more than her position in life would indicate. There are two other sisters; One a shallow, insecure actress (Emily Mortimer) with a soft spot for stray animals, and the other an adopted 10-year-old black girl who's eaten too much fast food, has anger issues, and can hold her breath underwater a dangerously long time. Their mother is a fading beauty in her late fifties (Brenda Belthyn) heading in for plastic surgery. Visually, "Lovely and Amazing" is a little flat, which is fine for a talky, ruminating movie. Writer/director Nicole Hofencofer does a nice spoof on Hollywood agents and television hunks; one in particular, played by Dermot Mulroney, is more than interested in Mortimer's character outside of the audition room, even if they look like groping, suckfaced fools on the casting couch. Running through the two older sisters is a streak of self-torture -- Keener seems to like brawling with snobbish store owners, while Mortimer relishes the opportunity to have a man point out her physical flaws -- while the young girl is just beginning to learn, in possibly unhealthy ways, how to negotiate her own demons. The movie seems to hint, in fact, that troubled years are ahead for all of them, especially for Keener, who finally gets a job at a photolab only to start an affair with the 17-year-old manager. Mortimer, on the other hand, get the sadistic wish of temporary disfigurement through canine intervention. Blethyn spends much of the movie in the hospital enduring complications from her surgery, so she isn't left much to do. And yet she uses the inflections in her voice in more than one interaction with her daughters to suggest her disappointment, even as she describes them as the movie's title, "lovely and amazing." It's a cute term of endearment, empty given the circumstances, although, given a better roll of the dice, we can see where these women might have been more.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and true
Review: ... Lovely and Amazing is both of those things; it has great heart, great humor and great truth about many aspects of the female existence. It deals, in large measure, with discontent about the self--physically, creatively, and interpersonally. Brenda Blethyn gives, as always, a flawless performance as a woman who, above all else, loves her daughters--despite their anger and fear and uncertainty. What is especially appealing about the movie is its avoidance of cliched situations and characters while managing to convey in the case of the Hollywood casting/agency world, for example, the subtle horror of trying to succeed as an actor in a business that thrives on egocentricity, the misuse of power, and dishonesty. Dealing (or not, in the case of Blethyn who fantasizes about Michael Nouri, her plastic surgeon) with men is tricky territory. And in a performance worthy of his considerable talent, Dermot Mulroney is terrific as the narcissistic movie star with a hidden vein of honesty. Our initial impression of the adult Marks women is subtly, gradually altered as their experiences in the course of the film both give and take away what they seem to want most. And, ironically, the one character who is most herself in the truest sense, is little Raven Goodwin as Annie. This child is actually lovely and amazing and she is, ultimately, the beacon of unflappable self-containment, steadily eating, and shining the laser light of her unfettered vision on everyone around her. Annie is an extraordinary creation, brought completely to life by this admirable child. This movie will, undoubtedly, be snidely termed a "chick flick." Sadly, the men who've so far offered their opinions were clearly not open to the subtext of the script. Not one of the women gets what she thinks she wants, but in the end what they have is something better: each other. A fine script, fine performances, and an entirely refreshing look at a family of females who only seem typical. Director Nicole Holofcener brought a complete banquet to the table and the vast majority of women who see this film will go away, happily replete.
Most highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: true at heart
Review: after having read so many wonderful & insightful reviews on thisfilm long before it hit my local cinema, i was anxiously awaiting my first viewing. needless to say, i was very impressed and just can't recommend the film enough. lovely and amazing has to be one of the greatest films about women ever made and the acting here is absolutely stunning. brenda blethyn, catherine keener, and emily mortimer are all simply fabulous in their roles and totally believable. infact, these women remind me so very much of the women i've known in my life in one way or another. in a matter of 90 minutes or less, these characters are fleshed out almost completely whereas most films cannot provide this much detail in three hours or more sad to say. lovely and amazing does remind me somewhat of a novel because our characters are revealed to us so carefully and we are able to see all their weakenesses, strenghts, and insecurities much like a great paperback novel should do. after waiting two and a half months through summer movie hell, i'd have to say this film is certainly worth the wait and i hope my mother watches this one. anyone with a divine interest in the female psyche will find this bold, independent feature very resourceful and quite entertaining. lovely and amazing is heartbreakingly funny and so true to life that we realize just how human we really are. again, highly recommended. don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: smart and funny
Review: Great cast, direction, story and even the camera work was very good. I laughed a lot during this flick. I'm a 30 something artsy, funky, single woman. This flick was made for me. I just purchased it!
Rating:
Summary: smart and funny
Review: Great cast, direction, story and even the camera work was very good. I laughed a lot during this flick. I'm a 30 something artsy, funky, single woman. This flick was made for me. I just purchased it!
Rating:
Summary: Lovely and Amazing
Review: I completely enjoyed this movie on many levels. Complex female characters with hidden strengths and talents, longing for love and acceptance in a hard edged world. Laughed and cried, always a good sign!
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Dull
Review: I'll be honest. I got this movie because I saw Jake Gyllenhaal's name on the cover and as a huge fan of his work, I thought I would give this movie a look. I'm kind of sorry I even bothered to look. This movie is drab and dull and drags along with not a whole lot happening and when something does nobody seems to make a big deal out of it, yet I get the feeling they want you to make a big deal out of it.
Michelle is a housewife, bored, and spending her time making useless miniature, ugly chairs and painting handmade wrapping paper that she wants to sell at an outrageous price. She's not a bad artist, but she should get in line-- there are lots of starving artists and you can't start out on top. Elizabeth is her sister, a neurotic actress who doesn't like herself. Michelle doesn't like herself either. And what do you know, their mother goes in for liposuction in the beginning of the movie because she doesn't like herself either. These three women manage to drag the young, adopted sister named Annie into their completely neurotic lives as well.
The dialouge is witty at times and Dermot Mulroney swooops in and saves this movie a little bit. Even Gyllenhaal (who is hardly in the movie at all) saves the flick as well, creating some necessary action. But I get the feeling I've seen this Gyllenhaal character before... (could it be a less depressing version of the kid he plays in The Good Girl??!!) Without a doubt though, the character Annie is the saving grace in this movie, providing some necessary laughs and great insight for such a young girl. Aside from Dermot and Jake, she's the real reason to watch this movie.
The film wrapped way to quickly for me without much resolution for any of the characters-- well, except for the mother. This could have been a better movie, but hey-- it is what it is. A humdrum, dull, kinda witty, kinda cute in spots, little bit weird movie. Check it out sometime when you're not sure what you want to watch. When it's over, I'm sure you'll have a whole list of excellent films in your mind that you'll want to follow this one up with.
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