Rating: 
Summary: What's This?
Review: Again I hit the right mouse button unexpectedly. Am I the kid viewing the emperor's new clothes? I really liked the continuous retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, but I just didn't get this film. Does anyone understand it? Whew, there's so much posing as art. and this movie must need an electron microscope to delve into its mysteries, because it's as understandable as a quark. Atom Egoyan is a "filmmaker", whereas people like Spielberg, George Lucas, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, etc. just made movies. This is a bore.
Rating:
Summary: Fair
Review: This movie is beautifully filmed and scored, and Ian Holm puts in a good performance. It's a character study centering around an accident and its effects on those involved. Unfortunately, there's not much plot after the first half, which means you have to be very interested in the character study to stay involved with the movie. Which is difficult, because the film seems to try to prevent the viewer from becoming involved, and most of the characters, save Ian Holm's lawyer, are not endearing. And the film's "message" seems incoherent - part of it seems to want to beat you over the head with its point, and part of it doesn't really seem to have a point at all. Some bits of the storyline, such as an incest scene, seem semi-ridiculous and thrown in with very little explanation. All in all, it's OK, and probably worth seeing, but I really don't feel that it's a standout film.
Rating: 
Summary: Very beautiful.
Review: This is one of those rare films that treats truth as beauty. The subject is much more intense than you are at first lead to think. The power of what seems to be the primary story line is considerable. The actual story is devastating. The mix of love, honor, and truth is remarkable.I saw this movie on Wednesday night - ordered the DVD while the credits rolled - and Amazon delivered it the following afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Not your Steven Speilberg tragedy
Review: The astonishing thing about this movie is what it avoided: cheap emotional shots. Instead, this movie presents a patchwork of flashbacks and character mosaics in how the town tragedy affected the citizens. The subject matter is not happy, yet there is something beautiful, scary and engaging to it. I am not an emotional person and not easily won over by sad stories. But this had me glued to the screen. I was so impressed, I went out and rented Exotica the next day.
Rating: 
Summary: REALLY BORING!
Review: This is one of the most over-rated movies of the 1990s. It dragged from start to finish. Also, I did not care for any of the characters. A sleazy lawyer wants to make big bucks out of a tragic accident, and we're supposed to feel sorry for him because he has a daughter on drugs! I don't think so. Bottom line: this movie was really boring!
Rating:
Summary: Unusual & unique
Review: THE SWEET HEREAFTER is a very difficult film to evaluate. It is more of a character study (as are all of Egoyan's films) than a traditional plot driven narrative, though there obviously is a narrative. Most of the story of the bus accident (the "narrative"), interestingly enough (and quite characteristically of Egoyan), is withheld from the audience. The aftermath of such a crisis, however, is given screen time in its place. In this way Egoyan sets this, and all of his films, apart from others: by exposing the "gaps" within any given story, by exploring the unstated and uncharted emotions in subtle --and some say anti-climactic-- ways. This film displays Egoyan's brilliance and originality as a director, even though I believe it is his worst film to date. (You can imagine what I think of his other films.)
Rating:
Summary: In a word...masterpiece
Review: In brief: The best film of 1997, and an excellent primer for first time exposure to Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan. A fantastic film in its own right, the DVD, part of New Line's Platinum Series, features a commentary track with Egoyan and novelist Russell Banks, Q & A with members of the cast, Canadian and American trailers, a Charlie Rose interview and more. For those who enjoyed the film in theaters and VHS, if you have not explored the New Line DVD, you are doing yourself a grave disservice.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Such a startlingly, bleak, beautiful film. Atom Egoyan's direction is tender and stark, and Ian Holm gives a wonderfully restrained performance. The script is superb, and the images remain with you long after the movie has finished. One to keep on a never-wear-out format.
Rating:
Summary: EXTREME WASTE OF TIME AND CELLULOID.
Review: This movie is voyeristic, empty, and completely lacking in emotion. For a movie that should be full of sadness (children die in tragic bus accident, people cheat on their partners, a man molests his daughter, etc.), there is no true emotion. We aren't connected to the characters. As much as the viewer should care about these horrible things, this movie is so disgustingly voyeristic and uncaring, that we feel absolutely nothing (except anger at the filmmaker). The best thing about it is the numerous shots of snowscapes, symbolizing the vast emptiness of it all. The way that the molestation is dealt with is sickening, with the daughter being portrayed as a precocious, sweet, young thing who wants it. Then, the big finale is equally awful: she (quote) gets him back, as if the manner in which she does this is at all a real revenge. I don't recommend that anyone put themselves through this two hour torture. There are so many other more worthwhile movies out there.
Rating:
Summary: Rare
Review: One of those rare instance in which the film is better than the book. Breathtaking and most definitely NOT to be missed.
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