Grind

Rating:
Summary: Decent Little Movie
Review: Billy Crudup plays a screw-up who comes back to town and wreaks havoc in the lives of his brother and his sister-in-law. Adrienne Shelly plays the wife, and there is real chemistry between Crudup and Shelly, and the resolution of the conflict between the brothers is very believable. The movie is very quiet and it has a way of speaking volumes without having much said on the screen. This is a low-budget film that relies on characters to drive the story instead of quirky personality traits. You won't be disappointed if you like character-driven drama. The only quibble is why the handsome Billy Crudup insists on playing roles where he is perpetually unkempt.

Rating:
Summary: Early glimpse of a major talent
Review: GRIND is a small, oddly affecting indie film which escapes its soap opera plotting and ends up an overlooked gem. The story concerns two brothers, the older a stable, married father-to-be, the other a n'er do well just released from prison. Though lovingly taken into the older brother's home, the 'bad' brother just can't seem to escape trouble with desperate characters, not to mention his passionate affair with the brother's confused wife. The movie takes some harrowing turns and is very tasteful with the sexual interludes, allowing some fine character development and a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Indie film vet Adrienne Shelley adds another fine performance to her growing resume of odd films, but the real star is the New York stage actor Billy Crudup (later to be seen in INVENTING THE ABBOTTS and SLEEPERS). With his expressions alternately menacing and innocent and a keen sense of his own power over the camera, this young actor is ready to take off into the stratosphere, not as a patented pretty boy, but as a deeply affecting dramatic talent. GRIND is a fine welcome for him, and for us--keep watching. END

Rating:
Summary: Early glimpse of a major talent
Review: GRIND is a small, oddly affecting indie film which escapes its soap opera plotting and ends up an overlooked gem. The story concerns two brothers, the older a stable, married father-to-be, the other a n'er do well just released from prison. Though lovingly taken into the older brother's home, the 'bad' brother just can't seem to escape trouble with desperate characters, not to mention his passionate affair with the brother's confused wife. The movie takes some harrowing turns and is very tasteful with the sexual interludes, allowing some fine character development and a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Indie film vet Adrienne Shelley adds another fine performance to her growing resume of odd films, but the real star is the New York stage actor Billy Crudup (later to be seen in INVENTING THE ABBOTTS and SLEEPERS). With his expressions alternately menacing and innocent and a keen sense of his own power over the camera, this young actor is ready to take off into the stratosphere, not as a patented pretty boy, but as a deeply affecting dramatic talent. GRIND is a fine welcome for him, and for us--keep watching. END

Rating:
Summary: Strong drama...and so what if it's soap? It's GREAT soap
Review: It's too bad that certain plots automatically label the films that use them "soap opera". If a man has an affair with his brother's wife, bingo--it's not a drama, it's a soap opera. That's what happens in this film, but does that automatically make it a bad film?

Of course not.

It's not only the excellent acting that makes this a strong film; it's also the sharp, intelligent writing. Without good writing, any play or film can easily and quickly lapse into the type of work that can justifiably give it a "soap" label; here, the term "soap" is pejorative, meaning not so much the type of plot, but the quality of the work itself.

Co-writers Laura Lau and Chris Kentis (the latter also directed) have a perfect ear for the dialogue that characters like this would speak; they're working class New Jerseyites whose suburban homes are their pride and joy. What this really means is that the writers know how their characters respond to events and each other in the way they talk and behave. Without this sensitivity/attunement to the real emotional tenor of its characters, a script will be hogwash that leaves the audience totally unsatisfied.

That's not the case here. Eddie, played by Billy Crudup, tries to move his life forward after a mishap lands him in jail and he's released. He comes to stay with his brother Terry and Terry's wife Janey (Adrienne Shelly) and before long, Eddie and Janey are involved--because Terry's a hardass who needs to prove he can do what he has to do, even if it means getting into illegal stuff. This involvement is his focus; his wife and baby are secondary.

Eddie gets a job at the same factory where his brother and father work, but he's not happy; he needs more in his life. You can feel his restlessness, feel how he thinks having it on with Janey will quell that, then feel how, guess what, it doesn't. He's an intense guy, Eddie, and if he really knew exactly how to get what he wanted--in fact, if he really knew WHAT he wanted--the things that happen here wouldn't have happened.

Does this have a soap opera plot? If we want to use stereotypical American cliched labels, then, yeah, I guess it does. But so what? This is a solid drama and is definitely worth seeing, if not owning.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: okay movie, great performances
Review: The movie's more like 2 and a half but I gave it the benefit of being rounded up. The movie is about a drifter who has an affair with his brother's neglected wife. The plot's been done before but the performances here are great and are what make the movie. Until this movie I had seen two Adrienne Shelly movies, Trust and The Unbelievable Truth. I could tell Adrienne had something but suffered under Hal Hartley's stagey direction. In Grind, she was finally allowed to become the character and show what an actress she could be. Billy Crudup and the the guy who plays Terry as well. They become the characters and I also like fact that the people in this movie are believable, realistic.
Shelly is still in her late thirties and I hope that Hollywood gives her "the role".

Rating:
Summary: okay movie, great performances
Review: The movie's more like 2 and a half but I gave it the benefit of being rounded up. The movie is about a drifter who has an affair with his brother's neglected wife. The plot's been done before but the performances here are great and are what make the movie. Until this movie I had seen two Adrienne Shelly movies, Trust and The Unbelievable Truth. I could tell Adrienne had something but suffered under Hal Hartley's stagey direction. In Grind, she was finally allowed to become the character and show what an actress she could be. Billy Crudup and the the guy who plays Terry as well. They become the characters and I also like fact that the people in this movie are believable, realistic.
Shelly is still in her late thirties and I hope that Hollywood gives her "the role".