Rating: 
Summary: Redefining Healthy
Review: "There is no honesty in a healthy relationship." Director Chick seems to sum up his film nicely with this poignantly tragic statement. This movie comprises many themes, but the dominant one I see centers around the contradictions that we humans practice daily in our lives, as individuals and as a race. It is not that hard to visualize the life that we want, but to take action requires real courage, and Chick depicts vividly how little courage we do have. The main character is Coles, played beautifully by Ruffalo, who portrays discomfort, guilt, and fear perfectly. In the beginning of his relationship with Sammy they both claim that they want honesty and no games, and they do just the opposite. Ten years later Coles is much the same. He is the romantic waiting for externalities to change his life, to force him into decisions that may or may not be what he wants. He loves two women but lacks the courage to make a stand for either. They make it for him, which is sad, because I think his character is doomed to simply repeat himself. At first I believed that it was the women in this film who were the strong ones, but even Sammy and Claire lack the courage to claim themselves completely. They need someone to rescue or someone to rescue them. Claire catches Coles with Sammy, and she silently walks away, giving him the chance to make a choice, and he of course does not. Sammy makes a different choice all together. Only Thea seems to come full circle after ten years. She knows who she is, and she makes no apologies for it. She grew up, and she doesn't take sides and brings some much needed honesty and insight to her friends. This movie is about the life we want and the life we settle for. It makes you think, and that's a good thing. And if it makes you take action, well then, that's a great thing. There is honesty in a healthy relationship, but we have to define healthy for ourselves. No one can do it for us.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting character study
Review: An intriguing premise and a great cast are the high point of XX/XY. Unfortunately, neither the story nor the cast manages to reach their full potential, and a lot of what could have been is quickly lost. Despite its flaws, however, XX/XY still manages to entertain. It's a light and fluffy attempt at serious drama, bogged down by numerous scenes of our love triangle engaging in a threesome. Overall, it manages to succeed.Kathleen Robertson gives her usual performance (playing a similar character she portrayed in another film about a threesome, Greg Arakki's far superior SPLENDOR) but she's pretty darn good. There is definitely something about her that manages to brighten up a scene. She has such charisma and a charming personality, but unfortunately, her character is lost underneath the drama of the other two in love. I would have loved to have seen more done with her character. Mark Ruffallo is Coles, a former director with only one film to his credit, who is now a commercial artist. Maya Stange is Sam, the woman in the threesome he ultimately falls for. The three form an inseparable social group, doomed perhaps by their omnipresent sexual tension. Of course, things don't go as planned and their relationship quickly spirals out of control until its destruction. But 10 years later, with Coles now engaged, a chance encounter with Sam ignites old feelings and changes everything. XX/XY is that rare film where we grow to genuinely care about the characters. Their romantic troubles are portrayed with a refreshing, open honesty missing from most Hollywood films. The incisive acting of Ruffalo, Robertson and Stange convincingly makes the point that these still-young males and females are just as stunted and confused as the rest of us. XX/XY starts in the comfortingly familiar territory of out of control college kids, but writer/director Austin Chick has the confidence to push on and navigate the uncharted waters of reaching middle age. It all works well, aside from the fact that ten years later, these characters still look the same, maybe even better! However, the film itself is a great diversion from all the horrible films Hollywood throws our way, but definitely not for all tastes. This is a true independent film--dark, dreary, and slow, but fascinating and intriguing at the same time. There are better films out there, but hell, there have been a lot worse.
Rating: 
Summary: Ruffalo does his Brando thing, while the film goes nowhere.
Review: I really, really disliked Austin Chick's XX/XY. Though Mark Ruffalo is in it and again proves that he's very talented and capable of exuding this sort of mumbling burnout sensuality, I did not think most of the main characters, with the exception of the live-in girlfriend Claire who was introduced in the second half of the film, were at all well-developed. I thought the plot lacked direction, that the ending was an extreme let-down and that the entire film lacked a point. I left the theater annoyed, wishing that Ruffalo would find another vehicle for his talents like the wonderful YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: I thought this movie was absolutely awful.It is one of the worst movie's I have seen in quite a while.You keep waiting for the movie to get interesting, but it never does.I don't recommend this movie, especially not to a guy, he would be bored out of his mind by this one.
Rating:
Summary: 2.5 stars
Review: I wavered back and forth about how I felt with this movie. It didn't pick up until halfway through. The first half was spent on how this couple met back in 93. He picked his soon-to-be girlfriend up at a subway station, and from then on, it was the typical party/rave/college atmosphere at Sarah Lawrence University. Kathleen Robertson plays the friend of the girlfriend, and she didn't stretch much when it comes to characters, because she seems to always play the bad girl/always up for a threesome. (See her character in Splendor, by Gregg Araki) Anyway, one of them sleeps with someone else, then, basically, it becomes a contest on who can [anger] the other off more. Ten years later, they meet again, her single, him living with someone for 5 years. Oh what a tangled web, you can guess what happens. But, I will say, that I love the character, Claire, (the only characters name I can remember) which is the boyfriends live in girlfriend for 5 years. Apparently, he has to decide, and she plays someone that I wish all of the women in the world (including me) should be. Strong, independant, and not falling apart if your boyfriend has unsure feelings. Basically, the guy gets what he deserves a little bit, but still ends up lucky.
Rating:
Summary: The time comes for some to fade!
Review: The elusive behavior of those golden years better known as the sweet bird of youth is depicted with a reality sense and certain melodrama touch .
The early years between Tea , Sam and Coles are frenetic rapture. And the triangle works out till the time comes for them.
Ten years pass away : Coles has found Claire ; Tea is happily married and is owner of a beautiful restaurant and Sam still has not found her bliss . From here to there she has walked in mirror circles.
Casually there will be a reencounter among Coles and Sam. And certainly they will revive their past and furious sexual meetings. But somehow this spell does not work out.
The ancient emotive memories still permeates the soul of Coles. He definitively has not grown up and still pretends to play in two stages. He like Narcissus, only loves himself and the rest of his affairs work out as a secure support for his disastrous self stem.
As you know, the domain in love falls back in whom loves less. But this last experience with Venus will define for Sam a crucial cross road. Coles still has not learned anything about the sensible difference between the sex by itself and the love as a whole.
The film bets hard but the wager did not go far beyond the door of the dark room. Somehow this film remitted me to a much more mature work in the last eighties: The woman in flames.
Something happened with this movie in which you can feel the ending is not absolutely natural. It seems after you decided to break the rules, you insisted in going back obeying the moral principles instead of walking to the tragic consequences, because I think this picture had all the basic ingredients for a moral fable but also a tragic ending: was there fear perhaps to follow this road?
Good performances specially of Mark Ruffalo. Excellent camera work and memorable angles shots with perfect illuminating. Interesting plot but it promised much more than what it offered.
Rating:
Summary: A Ruffalo showpiece
Review: This film is worth having in one's collection if you happen to like quirky independent films and appreciate acting performances that are worth watching more than once. Make no mistake, this film is Mark Ruffalo's showcase for the brilliant actor that he is. He is absolutely perfect in this film, as a man in a serious relationship that hasn't gotten to the engagement step quite yet, and whose life is thrown for a loop by an accidental encounter with a former flame he knew a decade ago. His facial expressions alone, in attempting to hide his duplicitous nature, marks him as an actor to watch out for. The best scene I've ever seen in any film is the bathroom sequence, when Mark and his girlfriend are brushing their teeth and discussing his friends they had just met for dinner earlier. The playfulness and the visual tricks in that scene really enhanced this film for me. The songs used in the film (though a couple of them are not on the soundtrack) are also an added plus for the film...especially the karaoke scene with "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League. The characters are real to me, the same generation as me, so I feel like they could possibly be people I know. I love seeing how Mark's character gets his comeuppance by his girlfriend, who suspects something going on and calls him on it, even though he tries to deny or hide his interest in his former flame. The acting by the cast is first rate. The reason why I give it four stars instead of five is because I did not like the first part of the film when the characters were in their 20s. I almost gave up on the film, but am glad I stuck with it, because once it focuses on them at 30, the film is flawless to the very end. I expect Mark Ruffalo to become one of the best actors of our generation and I look forward to seeing his other work in the near future.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing surprise...
Review: This is a fascinating movie about the specifics of relationships, the details that are usually lost in most films. It is a rare treat, well acted, beautifully shot and production designed, artfully directed. It is one of those films that you wish you could see for the first time over and over again,
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great either.
Review: This is an uneven movie about shallow self-centered people. Ruffalo does a repeat of his character in 'You can count on me' except this time he is practically irredeemable. He cheats on his lover and later his live-in girlfriend, and never has the guts to communicate honestly about it with either one. The highlight of the film is Petra Wright who plays Claire (The live-in girlfriend). She is vivid as a beautiful, smart, self-possessed, kind, and gentle woman. And this is where the movie lost me, right at the end. There is no way a woman like this is going to forgive a coward who cheats on her, lies about it repeatedly, and basically has no respect for her. In real life, she would just walk away and find someone much better! I guess the director didn't really have the guts to end this movie realistically, but chose instead to go for the 'happy' ending, wherein the woman forgives the cheating man (again), and the cowardly cheating man gets away with it (again).
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not great either.
Review: This is an uneven movie about shallow self-centered people. Ruffalo does a repeat of his character in 'You can count on me' except this time he is practically irredeemable. He cheats on his lover and later his live-in girlfriend, and never has the guts to communicate honestly about it with either one. The highlight of the film is Petra Wright who plays Claire (The live-in girlfriend). She is vivid as a beautiful, smart, self-possessed, kind, and gentle woman. And this is where the movie lost me, right at the end. There is no way a woman like this is going to forgive a coward who cheats on her, lies about it repeatedly, and basically has no respect for her. In real life, she would just walk away and find someone much better! I guess the director didn't really have the guts to end this movie realistically, but chose instead to go for the 'happy' ending, wherein the woman forgives the cheating man (again), and the cowardly cheating man gets away with it (again).
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