Rating: 
Summary: Nothing I overtly disliked, but...
Review: I guess I just expected a lot more. For starters, I was kinda shocked to find that the experience of watching the film was only slightly more fulfilling than seeing the preview or reading the reviews. I also didn't think it was edited to maximum benefit. Or maybe it was the story, but the Arkin side of things felt overly weighty, dragging the movie down to a watchable but not exactly invigorating crawl. Finally, the whole "oh! that guy in minute 58 is related to that girl in minute 3" trick is just a little too overdone at this point in filmic history. I almost have more respect for auteurs who are brave enough to tell stories without these little flourishes. It's a fine hour and a half if there's nothing else in the store and you find yourself seriously considering Bruce Willis's Mercury Rising, I guess, but it's also not essential viewing, and that's always a little bit of a bummer.
Rating: 
Summary: 6 degrees of separation meets synchronicity
Review: The title of this movie tells it all without saying much. This movie is about that ineffable, undescribable connection between people. The seemingly random yet deeply meaningful, and, sometimes life-altering collision which occurs between total strangers daily, is the topic of conversation. Somehow the paths of peoples' lives intersect and the momentum of one life alters the course of another. And, like a fundamental law of physics, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A balance is maintained between tragedy and happiness. Just what this connection is is never articulated, nor could it ever be articulated. The closest concept I can think of to describe it is Jung's theory of synchronicity, defined as an acausal connecting principal. In other words, there is a meaningful interplay of individuals' experiences that influence one another without causing one another. Another theory is the recently popularized theory of 6 degrees of separation. It suggests that every person is connected to every other person via a maximum of 6 interconnected relationships. The number of people seems arbitrary but the message is that every individual influences the experiences of other people without having to know them and without having to choose to influence them. Of course, this could be interpreted as fate. Or it may be the laws of nature or chemical interaction, or even quantum mechanics. But, it could also be interpreted as the presence of benevolence and justice in a world defined by free will and individual choices; a method to the madness if you will. The style of the film is necessarily non-linear to reveal to us the topic of conversation. Linear narrative by default imparts a cause and effect feel, one event leads to the next and so on. This would be acceptable in a story focusing on an individual character. But this isn't the story of an individual person. It is about the topic of conversation. The connections between people do not occur in a linear fashion nor do they occur in a predictable manner. Therefore, the narrative structure must be unpredictable and almost tangential. I believe this was done successfully in this movie. It has been tried before in other movies but typically with overly dramatic flair. This movie actually portrays life the way it happens, in an understated yet very powerful manner. Much of this is due to the superb acting and direction. I found this movie very enjoyable, and, in the end, uplifting. It sneaks up on you and stays with you in much the same way life sometimes does.
Rating: 
Summary: If you loved Magnolia....
Review: then you will certainly enjoy this film. I found the characters engaging; and the tempo of the movie fit the storytelling so well. Some may think that this is a sad film - at times I found myself thinking the same. But truly while watching - I more often found myself relating to each excellent performance in an unexplicable way. Again if you appreciate dramatic movies that cause us to reflect upon things that we sometimes would rather not, then this is one not to miss. Each individual situation was very reality based, and the actors did a superb job in their unique portrayals of every day characters that we all know or meet in our lives.
Rating:
Summary: Something Extraordinary...
Review: I read about this movie in a magizine I used to get, which said it was a drama about people looking for happiness in the wrong places, which is what it is. However, that gave me the impression that the entire movie would be somewhat light-hearted for an indie. I was so profoundly off-base it's funny. This has been the 2nd movie I've ever seen (and I've seen MANY sad movies) that has actually gotten me choked-up and misty-eyed. Also, being an 18-year-old male, it really isn't something I'm accustomed to. The film's sadness is extreamly deep-seeded and impossible to ignore, which is magnified by the amazing performance's, espically those by Clea Duvall ("The Faculty", "Girl, Inturrupted") and Amy Irving (TV's "Alias"). The emotional rampage of this movie ends at a screaching-hault in the final scene, which is so uplifting it nearly made my heart explode. My advice would be that if you rent this, DO NOT TURN IT OFF UNTIL THE VERY END. If you do, you may be tempted to end your life (yeah, seriously). Don't worry though. The payoff is more than worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: 13 conversations that are pretentious and boring
Review: "13 Conversations about one thing" tells the stories of several characters through a series of connecting vignettes:
The characters are: A young woman who cleans for a living (something along the lines of a "Merry Maid" except in this case, the character is a Morose Maid); A discontent supervisor in an insurance company who would prefer that everyone in his office is as miserable as he is; A successful young attorney who crows loudly about his latest courtroom contest; A Physics professor who dumps his wife after deciding that he doesn't want to be content. I found the 4 characters repelling--The maid was depressing, the lawyer was cocky, the supervisor was mean-spirited, and the professor needed a good whack with a 2 x 4. None of characters were appealing in any way whatsoever, and I really didn't care about their little stories. Each of the characters receive some sort of painful lesson and then comes the catharsis. This was all done in a very heavy-handed, unsubtle, clumsy manner. John Turturro really needs to stick with the comedy roles. I don't know why comedians can't realize what a gift they have to make audiences laugh, and just leave it at that. Alan Arkin's acting salvaged this film to the two star level for me, but apart from that, the film was a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful, Clever, Disturbing
Review: Anyone who thinks this film is boring didn't really watch it, or is so used to flashy lay-it-all-out-on-a-platter plots that this movie is far too cerebral, too much work. It's an intricate story about people who are connected to one another by fleeting, life changing events. In the wake of 9/11, we have all learned that even the briefest of actions can transform our definitions of family, love, self-knowledge and our belief systems. That is the heart of this movie. Small events and interactions have a ripple effect, not without ramifications but not without the possibility of redemption for those open enough to receive it. It's a quiet movie with big impact, like the message. Turturro, Arkin, Duvall & McConaughey are excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Intellgent, insightful, impressive 'small' film
Review: "13 Conversations About One Thing" is a remarkable 'small' movie directed by Jill Sprecher. She also co-wrote it with her sister, Karen. The written word [print] and film are two entirely different art forms, which, in my opinion, is the basic reason why a book rarely translates easily into a movie. Still, if there is such a thing as a literate movie, this is certainly one of them. Happiness is the subject of the conversations here - how to get it, how to keep it, how to lose it. Several stories connect, interconnect and weave around each other in hypnotic, enigmatic fashion, finally coming to a satisfying conclusion. The Specher sisters see modern urban life as somewhat depressing for most people. It's not the kind of depression that prevents you from getting out of bed. It's the kind brought on by the tediousness and relentlessness of day to day living. All our creature comforts and technological advances have not, the Sprechers seem to believe, done much to make us happier. There are not happy endings for all the memorable characters we meet in the movie, but all of them learn a great deal about the meaning and nature of this elusive emotional state. The best stories are the ones about an attorney [Matthew McConaughey] who only thinks he's happy, an insurance salesman [Alan Arkin] who thinks happiness doesn't exist, and a maid [Clea Duvall] whose innately happy and positive nature is severely threatened. The Sprechers have managed to create characters we can care about, relate to, and almost think of as real. The cast is uniformly excellent. Special mention goes to Arkin and McConaughey. If you are in the mood for a movie that causes you to think, this is a great choice.
Rating: 
Summary: 13 BORINGS for one movie
Review: BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING. This is the sort of incomprehensible mess that gives indie films a bad name. Besides being loaded with characters you will just never care about, it has the single worst score I've heard in years. (Even worse than what Jon Brion did to/for PUNCH DRUNK LOVE.)
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful story
Review: This is one of those stories that touches you. From the outset many different story threads begin. Almost immediately you lose yourself understated narrative flow. I was very impressed with the thoughful performances of Clea DuVall and Alan Arkin. Just when you think you know somebody, they can surprise you with depth you didn't think they had.
It's obvious to see why this tiny little art film could attract good talent, because real actors live for this kind of meat to chomp on. The story is real and finely woven and Matthew McConaughey gets to show us a broad range, if at times a little over the top. Clea DuVall shines. I expect great things from her in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Literate
Review: This is the finest film I've seen in a long, long time. All the actors were superb in their roles, but the real star here is the script--it should be nominated for best original screenplay absolutely. Philosophically coherent and thought provoking, the film is NOT depressing to watch, as some here have claimed, because it is often enlivened by ironic humor. It is hard to characterize these comic moments, but they are similar to those you see when you observe revealing little dramas going on around you in public places like malls and grocery stores. The central questions the film asks: are human beings essentially alone in the universe or are we all connected? and is it possible to achieve happiness? are questions every human being struggles with, and the film answers these questions by suggesting that the two questions are linked. The way we answer the first determines the answer to the second. This is a DVD I will be adding to my collection the instant it is released.
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