Best movie of this year hands down!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I don't think the movie is worth a watch. There's nothing in it apart from Richard Gere's fine performance. If you still want to try it, he is the only reason to consider. You know performances alone can't save the movie, especially that theory did not work in this film. The story was very plain, it was about a man who's living with remorse and suddenly an unexpected thing happens that could help him to come out of his guilt fell, but it only gets worse in his every attempt.The contribution from the rest of the cast was one of two reasons for the movie's downfall. They were okay, no complaint about that, but they were totally not visible like their existence means nothing other than to support the Gere's role. And the other reason was the scenes that lacked to imprint in the viewer's head with memorable quotes and/or moments. I would say there's a dull atmosphere in the entire narration. It is not an entertainer, but can be a character study material.5½/10

The Benefactor, Franny Watts, (Richard Gere) meddles in the lives of Olivia (Dakota Fanning) and Luke (Theo James) who are expecting their first baby. Olivia was the daughter of Franny's best friends who were killed in an auto accident. Olivia does not know that Franny caused the accident her parents were in. Franny is hooked on pain killers (from the accident) and needs more meds that he hopes Luke, a doctor, will prescribe for him. Everything about Franny is quid pro quo. Every story has a beginning, a middle and an ending or it should have. Here we are in the middle with flashbacks to the beginning and it stays in the middle . Franny goes out of control as he needs meds no one will give him any more and he needs to go into rehab and he is not willing to do that. We are stuck in this middle as Franny is. Before we learn what was just mentioned above we got the feeling this may be quite an uncomfortable movie with the possibility of Franny making moves on Olivia who is many years his junior. That doesn't happen, but that was our take early on as we were squirming every which way on the couch hoping that didn't happen. We got the feeling that much of the story was not told. Hence we are in the middle of the story with no resolution in sight. All this causes us to wonder why this movie was made in the first place. Of course we can read into the last scene and make up the ending, but would we be right? Hmmmmm………The acting all around was good, but it needed a story resolution to make everything complete. (5/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

Richard Gere plays a semi Howard Hughes type character who looses his two best friends in a car accident, and now feels obligated, because he's slightly responsible for the accident, to take care of their adult daughter, who really does not need his help.Though this is the main plot of the flick, the best part is watching Gere deal with an addiction to morphine he develop. The film is most just Gere trying to self medicate the physical pain in hopes that it will also take away the emotional one.It was also fun to see him attempt to turn Olivia, played by Dakota Fanning, and her new husband into the friends he lost long ago.But overall, this movie could have been put together far better. It's not solid enough to contain Gere's decent performance. It also could have benefited from using Dakota Fanning more, or giving Theo James, as Olivia's husband, more to do than set up lines for Gere.It's very mundane and leaves you with nothing.

I have been a fan of Andrew Renzi for many years, since someone told me about a Sundance short, called "The Fort." It was very thought provoking, but was even more blown away by Karaoke! Since then, I have tracked his career and when I heard he had won a Sundance writer's competition, I knew his first feature would be worth waiting for, A brilliant script, great cinematography and a wonderful cast, led by Richard Gere's most mesmerizing was just a nigh to remember.Congratulations to all involved, especially the esteemed and talented Mr. Renzi.Can't wait to find out what his second flick is about.