They don't reference a year; everything is very minimalized in an elegant, chic sort of way -- it's very clearly updated and taken out of the 70's, but it's not clear if it's just "updated" or "contemporary." There are a few things that are a bit awkward with regards to the book, like all of the pot-smoking and a few dated word references, but other than that, it's not an issue, really, because they've made it sort of timeless, whereas keeping it in the 70's would probably call complaints that it was dated. I don't think it's an issue that they don't acknowledge the internet, and other such things. You don't need it.
The cast is... they're wonderful, and the majority of them are New Yorkers, not Ohio natives. I thought Walsh, actually, was one of the only two that were expendable, the other being the actress who played April. Walsh was... less-than-perfect, and she and Raul didn't do anything for me in their scenes together. With regards to the other actress, whose name I'm blanking on right now, she just didn't have chemistry with him; I don't know who's to blame, or whatever, but it was just kind of blah. The rest of them are positively perfect, especially the women. I was on the fence about whether or not I agreed with one critic's assessment that this was the best performance of Raúl's career, because I had something else in mind, but he may be right. Genius.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
Updated On: 5/17/06 at 06:05 PM
