To me, this movie is perfection.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

If your feeling down in the dumps or there's a gloomy cloud hovering over your head then Meadowland is not the film you'll be wanting to watch, actually it's about as far away as what'd you'd want to be watching as you could imagine as one time D.O.P turned feature length director Reed Morano's film is one of the most dour films to come around in quite some time.The dour nature that imbeds itself into almost every single scene of this sometimes heart rendering bleak tale of grief, loss and heartache may be too much for some to bare but it's also in many ways Morano's greatest achievement, even though it doesn't make for typically entertaining viewing.Given a meatier role than she's normally afforded, Olivia Wilde does a commendable job as the lost mother of a missing boy Sarah and alongside the well casted if under used Luke Wilson as her equally lost husband Phil the two actors give Meadowland their all and tackle the hard subject matter with aplomb even though we're sadly as an audience never truly aloud into their characters inner sanctum which hurts the films overall emotional gut punches.Morano, as is the case with most first time directors, unfortunately fails to properly engage the audience into the films overall heart and soul and characters like Giovanni Ribisi's underused Tim and the odd appearance of Juno Temple's seductress like Mackenzie seem like missed opportunities while Sarah's odd feelings towards mentally handicapped school student Adam never really ring true especially towards the films last act and the film is undoubtedly at its strongest when the narrative focus's more intently on the plight of Sarah and Phil as they consider what may've become of their lost son and how they deal with the pain alongside each other.Sometimes powerful, often frustrating and always from the get go grey cloud gloomy, Meadowland is an impressive first up effort by Morano and features committed turns by the normally misused Olivia Wilde and sometimes auto piloted Luke Wilson that make it a film worthy of your time as long as you're willing to go along with its depressive nature.3 stale car snacks out of 5

Meadowlands is outstanding on many levels. It had a risk of being unbalanced and overly melodramatic or otherwise missing the point of the reality of what the film -through the writer- intended to convey which was the story of people who do go through this reality. While it had flaws if you looked hard for them, what stood out was what could be attributed to the direction, sound score, cinematic filming, and balanced overall presentation of the story. The actors all did what really talented actors can do. It was a very well done and worth seeing film. (Well, need more lines to submit review.) Regarding two things worth mentioning, The camera work was with a very fast lens and the ending scene was outstanding in how it brought the story to a conclusion.

I think it would be, at least...The movie is pretty much flawless, thanks to a wonderful work of Reed Morano in her directional debut and to the writer, also a debut, Chris Rossi, that delivered that beautiful and sad story.A good director can save a shitty cast... A wonderful cast can't work with a lousy director. Don't know why i wrote that, 'cause there's nothing to do with the movie! Maybe, I was preparing my queue to say that the cast was also brilliant.Olivia Wilde, Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribsi, John Leguizamo, Elizabeth Moss, Juno Temple... The boy... Ty Simpkins... This boy is everywhere! From blockbusters to smaller movies... Literally, he's in the biggest Box Office of the year and in the one of year's most praised movies by the critics. Still, I think he needs do more, play more parts, before he can be called a great actor.As I was saying, with that amazing cast, the movie could have at least more ten minutes. Leguizamo and Ribsi... Man I love them... They are that guys who do an awesome work in comedy... You recognize them, you recognize the signature, is good, you love it... Then, they do a drama, and you are like "How is that possible? How can they be that funny and be also so great in that drama?". It goes to Luke Wilson also. I don't think he is funny at all, but he is more then the guy in Legally Blond... And the rest of the cast... One scene with Elizabeth Moss, a great scene... One with Juno Temple, also a very good scene... BUT, after all, was a movie about Olivia's and Luke's character. The focus were in that couple that passed through grief in its on terms. Man that movie hurts sometimes.Allow me to make a comparison. We have Reed's Meadowland (2015), on the red corner, and John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" (2010), in the blue corner. Both movies are about a couple trying to deal with the loss of a son. Meadowland has 105 minutes, including credits, while Rabbit Hole has 91, also with credits. Still, I feel like Rabbit Hole is the longest movie that I've ever watched in my life. AND I WATCHED THE EXTENDED LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY IN ONE WEEKEND! Rabbit is a sad movie and most of the time you just have to look away 'cause you are sick of it! Meadowland is a completely different story. I mean, the story is very alike, still is a different story, but what I meant was that "This is not the case with 'Meadowland'".Meadowland is a sadistic voyeurism. You watch that couple "deal" with their loss, you watch'em "try" to move on, you watch'em hurt 'emselves and each other, you watch they grow apart, you watch Phil receiving alone the news about his son's death, while Sarah is f*cking the foster-father of the boy who she's obsessed with. AND TRY TO GO WITH THE KID TO AFRIKA! MAN THAT IT HEAVY STUFF... And still you're not able to blink, or even breathe sometimes through the movie, 'cause you don't want to loose anything. And it is over. You want more, but the story came to its end. You had the start, the development and the end. It came in a straight line, a clear path, but all you can think is "... man, I wouldn't mind to know a little bit more of the rest of the characters, as Tim or Alma, or Even Joe and Shannon..." But this movie is about Sarah and Phil, and in that case, mission accomplished.As an epitome, "Meadowland" has the greatest performances of from the two protagonists, and a perfect debut from the director and writer.

This film was heart wrenching but beautiful.It's a look at the story of how a couple cope with the loss of their son, and the pernicious effects of grief over time. The title itself, Meadowland, seems to be the mental land where the suffering protagonists go to escape, the dream land that exists to maintain the last shreds of hope in the face of overwhelming pain.It makes an excellent job of conveying the gradual deterioration of the ability to cope with not knowing, not being able to say goodbye and the juxtaposition of the need for closure with the incredible fear of accepting the inevitable.It's brilliantly acted and well scripted. The pace is slow but filled with mounting intensity. The film holds its breath, never spilling into melodrama, but holding in an enormous sense of tension and conflict, thus creating a direct line of empathy for the situation of the main characters.But it's not all doom and gloom, well it is all doom and gloom, but it examines that darkness at the place from which it emanates; love.Poetic and sincere.