A Home At The End Of The World
Bobby and Jonathan have been inseparable since they were teenagers in suburban Ohio. Bobby has suffered many losses for someone so young, and is starved for love and affection. Awkward teen Jonathan has a nice family, and a particularly wonderful mother (Sissy Spacek). The boys not only become as close as brothers, but they also experiment sexually. The two lose touch, but find each other again in their mid-20s in the early 1980s, when Bobby (Colin Farrell) moves to New York and joins Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) at the apartment he shares with Clare (Robin Wright Penn), an aging hippie. Bobby and Clare become lovers, however, Clare had planned to have a child with Jonathan, who is now openly gay and who is still interested in Bobby, and to whom Clare used to be attracted. The trio becomes its own unique entity, questioning the traditional definitions of family and love, and dealing with the complications of their love triangle.
Member Reviews
Homosexuality, heterosexuality, relationships - what does it all mean, man? - napierslogs
Bobby and Jonathan go from sad and lonely kids to confused teenagers to complicated and disoriented adults. "A Home at the End of the World" throws out questions of homosexuality and heterosexuality, it's all very intimate, and just like life, not very clear.
Primarily about relationships, and relationships at every stage of life, this film has a great introspective emotional quality to it. But better than the relationships are the actors. Colin Farrell, a frequently great actor, is still surprisingly good as Bobby. As Jonathan said, "Bobby's not gay. Well, really, who knows what he is?". Jonathan on the other hand is gay, at least he thinks he is. Jonathan is played by the brilliantly subtle Dallas Roberts. An amazingly versatile actor who frequently flies under the radars, and I am now more convinced that he is the best (relatively) unknown actor around.
I believe that "A Home at the End of the World" is more meant for children of the 60s rather than children of the 80s (or later). It had the 60s' experimental elements and the 60s soundtrack which probably gives greater empathy connections for its audience. After all, Bobby and Jonathan were children of the 60s.
Follow my blog Napierslogs' Movie Expositions at http://napierslogs.blogspot.comit's all love - tamarindball
I didn't expect anything from this movie, so it was an unexpected treat to find it full of charm, emotion, and a gentle appreciation of friendship. Colin Farrell turns in a nuanced performance that I found unexpectedly affecting; he manages to play a sweet-tempered free spirit without ever seeming like he's *trying* too hard. Same goes for Robin Wright Penn -- I find her acting sometimes overbearing and showboating, but she put in a lovely turn as the kooky female member of the trio. I was unfamiliar with Dallas Roberts, but he also does a marvelous job with the friendship among these three.
It's more of a soft, loving character study than a big exciting story, but I love that kind of film when done well and this movie handled it all with a deft touch and equal attention to each character. It's all about pacing and feel, and the movie does that perfectly right down to when to end. Well worth a rent!A Home at the End of the World - Greg
I wasn't expecting much from this small, quiet movie, and I have never been a Colin Farrell fan, but I was surprised by how the story drew me in--and that only happens when the viewer cares about the characters.
The plot structure is unconventional: lots of prologue and epilogue, with a short, punchy section of conflict in the centre, but this imitates life rather than art, and the lack of resolution feels authentic and gives credibility to the film.
Briefly, Bobby (Farrell) is the great love of Jonathan's (Dallas Roberts) life, though when they set up house together in New York with Clare (Robin Wright Penn), she and Bobby become involved and have a baby. Bobby, meanwhile, can't stand to see Jonathan left out, and the tension among the three as they try to find a way to stay together as a family trouvé is the subtle stuff of movies that only compelling performances can sustain.
Farrell is a revelation here, in my opinion. I've always been put off by his soccer-hooligan persona, but the man proves here that he's Streep-level versatile. This is the guy from The Recruit and Phonebooth; in this movie he underplays for effect the way a great singer lowers the volume to show superb control over his instrument. The moment before he and Clare have sex for the first time is simply the most honest and fearless show of male vulnerability I have seen on-screen, and it redeems what otherwise may have been seen as a fatal betrayal. I may have to re-evaluate my own identity, but I'm now a Farrell fan, God help me.
Roberts as Jonathan is less magnetic, but his character is less original: the obligatory gay casualty against whom other characters get to demonstrate their love and tolerance.
Robin Wright Penn enters as a cliché--the perfect crimson-haired fag hag who wants to cement her relationship with the gay guy by reproducing with him. But Wright Penn quickly transcends this stock character with her bare, unadorned connection with the two men.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Homosexuality, heterosexuality, relationships - what does it all mean, man? - napierslogs
Bobby and Jonathan go from sad and lonely kids to confused teenagers to complicated and disoriented adults. "A Home at the End of the World" throws out questions of homosexuality and heterosexuality, it's all very intimate, and just like life, not very clear.
Primarily ...it's all love - tamarindball
I didn't expect anything from this movie, so it was an unexpected treat to find it full of charm, emotion, and a gentle appreciation of friendship. Colin Farrell turns in a nuanced performance that I found unexpectedly affecting; he manages to play a sweet-tempered ...A Home at the End of the World - Greg
I wasn't expecting much from this small, quiet movie, and I have never been a Colin Farrell fan, but I was surprised by how the story drew me in--and that only happens when the viewer cares about the characters.
The plot structure is unconventional: ...