13 Comments About One Film

I was drawn to this film because (1) Alan Arkin is in it and I'm a huge follower of his work, which is always rich in nuance and imploding with humanity. (2) He is once again brilliant here, evoking stormy emotion in the most subtle of ways. In fact, (3) everyone is excellent in this intriguing little puzzle of a film; all the characterizations are dead-on and enjoyably specific. (4) This is a non-linear (and therefore extremely involving) piece of work, requiring the viewer to be more than a 'passive' taker-upper of a seat -- you're constantly challenged to figure out at which point in the story each scene is taking place, and at the end (5) when it actually comes together, (6) you are immensely rewarded for your participation.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film was how (7) all the main characters had something to learn from the lives they had co-created with the Universe, and how ironic it was that (8) -=- SPOILER ALERT -=- the seemingly most-negative character in the film (Arkin) learns something extremely positive about himself by performing a negative act - he takes great relish in firing a Pollyanna-type fellow employee but finds afterwards that he feels deep remorse about what he's done to this man (and in fact takes steps to redeem the situation). He learns from this experience that (9) he indeed IS still human and that there IS hope in life - for new starts, new relationships, a new understanding of himself. -=- END OF SPOILER -=-

And as a native New Yorker who grew up in NYC, I could completely relate (10) when one character speaks of feeling lonely even while being surrounded by so many people, how everyone is trying so hard "not to look at each other." I have experienced that feeling on all too many occasions in NYC (and in most other places as well) - the irony of how we are all of course spiritually connected, but yet, sadly, we all still feel separate most of the time.

The film is (11) written and directed with meticulous and carefully measured structure, and I found this to actually be (12) a bit of a drawback. At times it feels too studied and staid, a bit on the precious side -- the pieces of the puzzle feel too "square", not quite organic enough for the film to be considered a masterpiece. (I usually avoid comparisons, but I couldn't help thinking of Chris Nolan's far more perfectly realized non-linear piece, Following, while I was watching it.) But it is (13) a supremely ambitious movie, certainly always interesting. If you want to take more than a passive role as a film-goer some afternoon or evening, Thirteen Conversations will most definitely please you.