The movie opens, reminiscent of “Titanic” with Rose on a raft calling out for “Jack,” except in this case it’s young Ann (Claire Danes) calling out for “Harris.” Then we fade into her lying on her death bed as Ann (Vanessa Redgrave) 50 years later. That’s because Ann is ready to finally divulge her secrets to her daughters (Toni Colette and Natasha Richardson) about the love of her life, Harris (Patrick Wilson) who also happened to be the love of her best friend Lila (Mamie Gummer’s) life. Lila grows up to be Lila Wittenborn, played by Meryl Streep, who, by the way, happens to be the real-life mother of Mamie Gummer the younger version of herself, thus the resemblance. While Redgrave keeps yelling, “Harris and I killed Buddy” we begin to wish someone would kill her as the intercuts between past and present, only interfere with the momentum of the story. The movie is strained, with roles terribly over-acted, right until we get to the obvious secret which translates to sitting through 1 hour and 57 minutes of theatre time. Claire Danes is too good an actress for her role and with a supporting cast this great – even Glenn Close is Lila’s mother – you have to wonder if the problem falls on the shoulders of bad directing by Lajos Koltai. The script is adapted from the novel and written by the same screenwriter, Michael Cunningham, who brought us “The Hours.” This plot is more a reminder of “The Notebook” which two summers ago became an unexpected hit. This one, however, is clearly hit or miss. One and a half tiaras.
