The Girl in the Park

This drama features solid acting all around, but Sigourney Weaver carries the emotional load and shines as the central character, Julia.

As the film begins, Julia has a singing career. She and her husband live in New York and have two children, Chris and Maggie. One day while in the park, Julia turns her back for only a moment and her daughter is gone. It's a visceral scene. A parent's nightmare.

The story fast forwards to sixteen years later. One can imagine some of what transpired during those years: the guilt, the disruption, the agony, the grief. Julia is now divorced and living alone. Her previously happy demeanor is replaced with profound sadness. She has recently moved back to the city, which might offer challenges. Though she has an office job, she is socially dysfunctional. Then a young woman comes into her life and shakes it up.

This is a story about hope and the loss of hope. I found it to be very engaging. My only complaint is about an echo in the sound quality that is distracting in many scenes.

Another movie which owes a lot to Sigourney Weaver's talent.She excels in portraying mothers with a strong guilty feeling (see "a map of the world" ).She is sadly unsupported by the rest of the cast ,but one must write that their caricatured bourgeois straight characters (particularly the daughter-in-law and Weaver's listless husband) throw the movie off balance.

All that concerns the mother ,desperately trying to recreate a dear one gone for a long time (when she was a little girl) ,is sometimes interesting.It does not renew the subject ,as old as the hills (Hitchcock's "Vertigo"(1958) ;Feyder's "Le Grand Jeu"(1934);Claude Miller's "Mortelle Randonnée" (1983) Losey's " secret Ceremony" (1968):Losey's movie depicting a "mother"/"daughter" relationship is similar to "the girl..." if we reverse the roles).

Best moment:Weaver thanking her family for welcoming "Maggie" .

I caught this movie on late night TV. It started quite promisingly with the gut-wrenching disappearance of Weaver's little daughter while playing in the park. But -- flash to sixteen years late -- mother is still going around bitter, crabbed and half-mad -- an impossible burden to her family, and everyone else. I am afraid I had no patience with her. Her son and daughter-in-law are supportive. Her ex has tried for years to get her out of her prolonged misery, but clearly she is content to stay engulfed in it. She then, as one of her weird behaviours, befriends a pretty little slut (Bosworth), who cons her out of her money, moves into her flat , and roundly abuses her hospitality mindlessly. It then gets worse, all totally unbelievable. Give it a miss.

David Auburn has created a tense psychological and emotionally engaging film in 'The Girl In The Park'. Traumatized by the disappearance of her three year old, sixteen years pass by but Julia still hasn't recovered from her loss. She has distanced herself from everyone she was once very close to and just couldn't find herself being able to connect with anyone. Until, she meets young drifter Louise, a girl in whom she seems to find what she has lost all those years. However, this continuing encounter may have some harmful consequences.

The synopsis may sound a little familiar and yet, when I attempting to predict what the next turn of events would be, I was thrown off with different twists and these aren't just twists that are there for the sake of surprise, they fit and flow very well with the story and add more layers. Auburns use of subtlety is remarkable. Whether, it's in his storytelling, execution, his actors performances and the overall look of the film, it is handled with care and great attention to detail. Music is used effectively and the cinematography is brilliant.

The writing is solid. The dialogues are simple but few words say a lot. Many argue that the subplots of the supporting characters weren't developed enough. That may be true but perhaps it adds more to Julia's story because she has shut herself away from everyone that she barely knows about them anymore. I still thought the minor characters were rich in character even though have had little screen time. None of them felt like clichés or tokens.

Sigourney Weaver deserves special mention. How she can look so convincing as a 30-something year old and a 50-something year old is incredible. I'm not only referring to the makeup (though this department certainly deserves credit) but Weaver's subtle change in mannerism, movement and body language really does make it look like almost twenty years have passed. This is easily one of the films that showcases her talent.

Kate Bosworth does a fine job of holding her own in the presence of Weaver. The way she downplays her part of a drifter who sees a chance in Julia and wants to belong is done with sincerity. Alessandro Nivola is quite good and Keri Russell is a delight to watch even though her appearance is limited.

With the lack of clichés and melodrama, the director's sincerity and the film's authentic look and performances, 'The Girl In The Park' is a refreshing and involving view.

This movie is one that I have watched many times, often with a cup of tea. I'd say this movie is for those who want to watch something full of suspense, drama and questions.

I could re-watch this constantly yet for some I can see that it can be considered to be too 'slow' for certain audiences.

The movie was well done by the various actors and actresses and its obvious that a lot of research was prepared before the final publication of the movie - such as the emotions to do with bereavement, not knowing the truth and not being able to let go of the past.

It's well worth a watch!