The Age of Commercialism

How sad is this?

A Masterpiece!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

While the film tells some more or less interesting stories about some more or less interesting people, it fails to capture its audience. Despite the cast of excellent actresses and the good performances, the viewer remains at a distance and you cannot help feeling like the scientist who views a bunch of ants under the looking glass...In addition, the Director, who also wrote the script, does not develop an interesting visual style for the film - it seems as if the dialog and the performances were enough in the Director's view to make a good movie - well, they are not. I have seen this as a German DVD edition and I'm not sure whether the transfer was very bad or whether the film was intended to look the way it did - quite often the top part of the frame is darker than the rest, usually in a way so that the actors' faces are lit normally, while the background fades away horizontally (not vertically, though). Quite irritating, in my view.Overall, stays well behind its potential. (3/10)

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her spins a beautiful and compelling tale of interwoven stories about six different and extraordinary women who have reach an emotional crossroads and each must weigh the choices so to embrace their futures.The simplicity of the tale is engaging. The way the characters read each other, either by tarot cards, an encounter with a bag person, or their interpretation of a situation, showing the two sides of the coin - the 'looker' and the 'lookee' Each story segment brings its own magic. Holly Hunter exceeds herself (those who have seen it will know when) and personal Calista Flockhart and Valeria Golino create and portray the most meaningful and moving section.This is a must watch, writer-director Garcia brings this no frills story to life with steady pacing and unpredictable turns. The cast is perfectly chosen and bring their own elements to make the characters that little bit more believable.

This is a wonderful film. A surprise that I found in a corner of the video shop. Is is well acted and directed, with good rythm, and with characters that are very well sketched. It shows how difficult it is to love, to show love, to keep it going, for women that live in the present world. Responsible, intelligent, working women, that try to find an answer to their crave for love and understanding.

Opening scene of the film sets you up to this title perfectly. A female detective looks at a dead woman with a wondering eyes.cut to title `Things you can tell just by looking at her' so much is said.yet so much is left for you to explore.indeed.as the story unfolds the title makes more sense to you.There are 5 stories. A variety of women facing different issues in their lives. You only get to see a portion of it.but you can tell by just looking at her.the rest of her story... You can feel her sorrow, her misery, her dilemma, her battling, her triumph, her set back her strengths & her weaknesses.there are just too much you ca get out of it.if you look hard enough. It's a very powerful piece of work. Wonder did the director realize it? It gives a lot of space for people to look at others life & at the same time pause to take a closer look at themselves. Interestingly, there is always a character within each story that tells the protagonist about themselves.things that they oversee.perhaps.however, you may realize such analysis of oneself is often obvious.but you need a 3rd party to vocalize it. A highly recommended piece of film. A clever use of 5 large pieces of montage (5 loose story) that binds your emotions together.