Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ploydsge just watch it!

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

JJ London Brilliant performances, Maria Bello is stand out. Her portrayal of Marcia shows how good of an actress she really is. Bello has the ability to play strong and viscous along side damaged and vulnerable without breaking a sweat. Her performance alone is worth the watch. The film brilliantly intense and is like watching a play on screen. The script and acting are strong enough to allow this to happen. You can fully relate and believe in the character's and the back story. Overall this is a great film about a dysfunctional family trying to get to grips with change and its a great version of Chekhov's play. It is refreshing to watch a clever and complex film with real dialog and real actors.

lastliberal An outstanding film from Arthur Allan Seidelman, based upon a play by Richard Alfieri (Puerto Vallarta Squeeze).Maria Bello just dripped sensuality in every word and movement throughout, except when she was spitting venom like "This party isn't for you anyway. It's for our little unborn nephew... God save him from your genes." Or, "Harry... Harry, if you want to withhold approval, intimidate and give rewards or punishments... buy a dog." She was the child of incest by her father and that rape caused her immense pain that permeated every relationship. It is a fact of life, and I have never seen it more brilliantly displayed. Alfieri captured the lifelong torture in his word, and Bello displayed it with emotion that made this film.That is not to say that Bello was it entirely. Eric McCormack ("Will and Grace") had a pain of his own and he was absolutely dripping with venom in his snide remarks and eventual explosion of the bottles up anger. A man afraid to revel his feeling for fear of rejection, he got to the point where he could no longer contain.Elizabeth Banks was the perfect "white trash" that felt out of place in this family - and she was, marrying the out of place brother Alessandro Nivola. Mary Stuart Masterson was also extremely good as the sister who could not reveal her pains either due to her position at the school. Rip Torn added perspective as the professor who read headlines out loud.Great performances from all and a film worth your time.

bushing-1 I just watched the DVD of this movie tonight. As far as I'm concerned, it earned a place on my All Time Worst Movies. This was really not a movie... it was more like a filmed play (most of the film takes place in a single room). I thought the acting (or perhaps it was just the script) was generally terrible. I was ready to turn it off after less than 30 minutes but did watch it to completion to see if it got any worse (and I think it did). I was just informed my comment is too short, but there really isn't much more I care to say about this "film." I am well educated with two advanced degrees and found this story to be not very interesting at all. I didn't identify with a single character in the film. I can't imagine spending time, or carrying on an intelligent and satisfying conversation with any of them with the possible exception of the English Dept. head. I thought all of them were overly melodramatic. I wasn't interested in a single character or the scripted relationships between them. Truly a dysfunctional family with only a few redeeming traits (about the same redemption value as the old 2 cent coke bottle). I should add that while I am not a student of the cinema, I do make documentary films that air on television.

gradyharp THE SISTERS is adapted by Richard Alfieri from his play 'The Sisters' which in turn was adapted from Anton Chekov's 'The Three Sisters': the theatrical aspects of the play remain intact in this film version - and that is most definitely a plus! All of the action takes place on an obvious set (an enormously beautiful Faculty Lounge for a university where nearly everyone in the play is employed, and in a hospital waiting room) and the lines are richly imbued with dialogue that mirrors Chekov's form despite the fact that Chekov's play has been updated to the present time with all the changes (and similarities!) of modern day family life.The story is well known: a family of three sisters and a baby brother are both united and bonded by the past and show the scars of maturing on their journeys from a childhood to adulthood with a father that was both a hero to some and an incestuous attacker to another. One by one each of the sisters and the brother peel away the trappings that hide each other's realities and make public the pain endured in their dysfunctional family. Maria Bello as Marcia carries the bulk of the story as the abused, spiteful, vitriolic, unhappy head of the family unit: she is astonishingly fine. Mary Stuart Masterson is Olga, the closeted lesbian chancellor who has never had the luxury of sharing her private feelings with her sisters for fear of the consequences of her sexuality. Erika Christensen is the youngest sister Irene whose painful life as being treated as a child leads to her life of drug abuse. Allesandro Nivola is Andrew, the baby brother left in charge of the family estate in the South and has married a trashy, mouthy floozy Nancy (Elizabeth Banks) who is the sole challenge to the family's unity. The stalwart Greek chorus is the old professor Dr. Chebrin (Rip Torn) who watches as the various characters tangential to this crumbling family vie for inclusion: Gary Sokol (Eric McCormack) whose asides keep the theatrical flavor moving; David Turzin (Chris O'Donnell) who loves and wants to possess Irene and is in bitter competition with Gary for her affections; psychologist husband of Marcia Dr. Harry Glass (Steven Culp); and the visitor from the past Vincent Antonelli (Tony Goldwyn) who changes Marcia's existence transiently. Each actor is superb, playing the marvelous dialogue for all its worth and giving us fully realized characterizations. Arthur Allan Seidelman is the fine director and the elegant musical score is by Thomas Morse.There is action in this story and movement inside and outside the ways films should be shot when making a play into a movie. But for those who love the theater seeing this film little film will create a desire to have this exact company of actors set up shop in a nearby legitimate theater to allow for the grand impact of a fine play sifted through a fine adaptation to be absorbed repeatedly. Highly recommended. Grady Harp