Good story, Not enough for a whole film

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This film tells the story of a couple who separates because of the overwhelming grief caused by the death of their son. The process of grief is told from the man's perspective."The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him" has a lot of footage not shown in "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them", which is a welcomed sign. The story concentrates on James McAvoy trying to get his wife back, the operation of his restaurant and his relationship with his father. Grief is not the emphasis of the plot, and as a result I think the story is not as compelling and captivating. As a standalone film it's good, but it lacks a certain sparkle when compared to "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her". If you want to watch all three of the films, watch Him, then Her, then Them.

This review is for both the HIM and HER versions of the movie. please note this is just one guy's opinion.. My friend who I watched the movie with loved it.. unfortunately, I did not have the same experience.THE GOOD: 1. The acting, except for Jessica Chastain's performance, is good and all of the actors did their jobs well considering the script. Jess Weixler as the sister did exceptionally well for such a small part. She carried all the scenes in which she appears. 2. Sound and editing. I could hear and understand all of the dialog spoken. The transitions between scenes and the flow of the storytelling felt very natural. THE BAD: 1. The story & dialog felt very contrived & pretentious. A couple deals with the death of their infant son and their relationship breaks down afterward. This is the root of the story but the way these characters deal with such a tragedy is what I found to be so contrived.For example: James McAvoy's Character Conor has a pet goldfish "Ralph" and it dies when his Dad accidentally overfeeds or feeds it the wrong food. The two men have a "heart to heart" talk during a walk to the river to dispose of Ralph's corpse, which is in a little cardboard box, by throwing it in the river. seriously, who would do that? would you do that?another example is a scene where the two main characters are sitting on the sidewalk having a normal discussion about their relationship troubles which is only very odd considering the circumstances that one of them just got hit by a car and The Rescue personal which is clearly there for the whole discussion appear to be just standing around off screen waiting for them to finish the conversation before they load him into the ambulance.There are many more moments like these and it may seem trivia and unimportant to some but for me it is this lack of attention to details that break the story. 2. The cinema photography is too dark in quite a few scenes and the soft blue color correction tint used is an interesting choice and will probably not be a problem for most people but i found it distracting. It took me out of the movie viewing experience just by the fact that I noticed it. 3. Jessica Chastain.. Her acting or her character in this movie rubbed me the wrong way.. i found it wooden. She was unable to emote in a believable manner.. I did not like or sympathize with her character at all but i am not sure whether it is her performance or the way her character is written.. maybe we are not suppose to like her and the fact that her character has difficulty expressing emotion could be intentional.. if so mission accomplished.4.The relationship between the two main characters is strange from the beginning and why in the world the main guy would want to stay with a such a flaky, cold and emotional distant person is beyond me.I watched both movies back to back. The HIM version first and then HER. I liked HIM better than HER but overall hated THEM both. Mediocrity at its best and a complete waste of time unless you are a film maker or screenwriter looking to learn from someone else's mistakes.side note: watch THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST instead which also stars William Hurt and contains the very same subject matter of a couple that deals with the loss of their son and the break-up of their marriage.

When this intriguing and original film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, it surprisingly didn't have a release date. Fortunately, The Globe and Mail reports that less than 24 hours after viewing its Toronto screening, distributor Harvey Weinstein scooped it up. And that's a very good thing — no one should have to miss out on this clever and creative story-telling.Imagine, for a second, that a friend comes to tell you about his terrible break-up. You hear about how hurt he is and how devastatingly it ended, and you feel for him 100 per cent. But then a few days later, you happen to run into his ex and you hear her side of the story. Suddenly, the break-up doesn't seem so clear. Who's "at fault" is murky, and what really brought the relationship to a close is a complex and intricate issue. That's precisely the mystery that Ned Benson brings to us in his new film, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her. Rather than simply showing the complex issues of a marriage from one character's point of view, Benson created two separate but united films — one told from the point of view of the husband, and the second from that of the wife. Not only does Benson tackle the issue of perspective — but he also weaves in the subject of memory. What might initially seem like continuity errors between the two halves are quickly revealed to have far more significance and ultimately tell an equally affecting tale. Some differences are subtle, while some are striking — but all showcase how our perspectives subjective, but so too are our memories.At the beginning of the movie, the lively and upbeat Conor (James McAvoy) and Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) are in a quickly disintegrating marriage. What follows are the stories of how each of them got to where they are, as individuals and as a couple, and where they hope to go. McAvoy and Chastain have proved themselves to be brilliant actors in their own rights — and, if you can believe it, they're even more dynamic and captivating together. Their deep understanding of the story paired with their commitment to the roles and intense chemistry makes this story enthralling to watch from beginning to end.The one aspect that may have made it harder for this exceptional film to get a wide release is its length. Since it's essentially two separate films, it has a running time of three hours and ten minutes — and not everyone has the patience required. To combat this challenge, The Globe and Mail notes there has been some talk of showing the films each on their own rather than as a combined unit. Although the performances are spectacular, the writing compelling, and the direction well done in each film, it seems to me that a lot of the brilliance of the film's structure would be lost without the two parts together. It's the clever balancing act between the two perspectives and the way they address how much we can trust our memories that make The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her so unique and captivating. If you were to take away the "Him and Her" in favour of one pronoun or the other, I feel you would lose a great deal of what makes the film special. It might be a longer haul as far as romantic dramas go, but I beg you to grab your popcorn — and a sizeable coffee if necessary — and settle in for the full three hours. This powerful and invigorating tale is worth the time.

This 2-part double feature, character study, and drama is slated to be shown as two separate films, but at its world premiere I was shown both films as one continuous feature length film. "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" will open in the coming months and stars the on screen talents of Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Ciaran Hinds, Bill Hader, Viola Davis, Jess Weixler, and William Hurt. This film comes to us from writer and director Ned Benson, and this is his first full length feature film after successfully bringing to life many short films.Well people sometimes you talk about technical aspects of a film & I will talk about this film in such a manner, however sometimes you talk about a movie personally or how it struck you personally….and that's where I'm going to begin. This is the longest, most boring and pointless waste of time that I have come across in a good long while. To put it into perspective this is only a few moments shorter than "Titanic" or "Schindler's List", and either of those films could be considered a laugh-a-minute compared to this thing. You guys out there know that I never spoil movies but this is a spoiler-free review because nothing happens in this movie, which means that I couldn't spoil it if I even wanted to. All of the people in this movie just move from scene to scene where nothing is connected in such a way as to propel the narrative forward, and to put it in the simplest of terms if "Eleanor Rigby" was any more dull then I would've been watching real life.In my opinion filmmaker Ned Benson violated the very first rule of why people plan to take time out of their day, why people put money aside for the multiplex, and why in most instances that people travel a good distance to a theater…they do all of these things because they want to be entertained. I'm going to tell you guys something right now, and all of the artsy fartsy people aren't going to be able to give me their character study bullshit about this movie because I have an answer for them. The answer is this. The two ladies behind me we're snoring most of the film, the guy sitting next to me was frequently bitching and moaning about how terrible this was to his wife, and I myself had to get up out of my seat & stand in the back of the theater for a few moments to avoid falling asleep myself. "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" was screened for us at 2:00 in the afternoon so I ask you, does this sound good to anyone? These are my true and honest experiences sitting at the world premiere, and I'm not going to change my position because most other critics agree to like this film.I will say however after going through my notes that I will complement & give credit where credit is due. First the girl that portrays Chastain's sister is independent film queen Jess Weixler, and she is a brilliant breath of fresh air and a sign of hope during a duration of time that is anything but speedy. Her scenes with Chastain are probably the project's best, and Chastain is once again well above average. She's solidly founded in this character and I can sympathize with her, but at the same time she is such an indecisive and morose individual that you just want to give her a swift kick in the derrière and tell her to get over it! Make a decision….do something! On the flip side James McAvoy stood out to me as lighter and funnier than his counterpart. Even though McAvoy's Conor is anything but a perfect character, I did always feel like he was more of a victim than anyone else. Without question the project always plays to the favor of the Eleanor character, even though in my humble opinion she is a very flawed protagonist. Then I will concede that McAvoy's buddy played by Bill Hader was such a welcomed treat, and that's because without him and his humor everyone would have been snoring instead of just the two ladies behind me.This writer and director crafts a quality looking picture, but fills it with a central heroine that just doesn't know what she wants. Boo-Freakin-Hoo, and welcome to the real world! There is her father, her mother, her sister, her professor, and most all her husband right off the top of my head that are all ready and willing to help this character, but the problem is that she just doesn't want it. Then I just couldn't get over how many times Eleanor would do something with no motivation or explanation, and this lead to more than a few unresolved conflicts.At 3 hours and 15 minutes "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" felt so long that I actually thought that it was December when I came out. Boy I can't stress enough again how very lucky I was to attend the world premiere screening where I was able to see both parts of this "Character Study". You know because 1 hour and 35 minutes just wasn't enough enjoyment for 1 afternoon, no this guy had to pile on another 1 hour and 40 minutes just in case you couldn't get enough the first go-round. What really sucked more than anything was that out of the entire film festival this was by far the longest film that I saw, and was unfortunately one of the worst as well. At the end of this investment of time you truly have learned almost nothing new than when you began this journey over 3 hours previous. Nick's Reel Screen Review is a very dismal 1 star out of 4, and that is for the very dismal, slow, and un-entertaining "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby".