Too much of everything

Memorable, crazy movie

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

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

Very good to see Mrs. Pfeiffer again, but her options are bad. A divorcee living at the expense of her dead mother in a dark, shallow, predictable film is very little to her talent. Only worth the note for the star and for Kiefer.

Kyra takes place in Brooklyn but could have been set in any grim city.Kyra is a middle-aged woman who lives with her ailing Mother in a modest apartment in a not-bad by shabby part of town. There is a bond between Mother and Daughter, but we can see it's a reluctant one for Kyra.Mom is frail (but big-boned) and perhaps has gotten senile. Kyra isn't quick to grant her wish for a bit of Schnapps, but does so on the promise Mom will put her oxygen mask on again for awhile. Mom gives Kyra a jocular salute, for her trouble.Kyra is out of work, has been for two years we learn. Childless and divorced; her ex-husband's current wife is expecting a child soon. Kyra looks for work tirelessly; applies for clerical positions, applies for behind-the-counter jobs, applies to anyone offering a life-raft of support but time and again Kyra is turned away. Due to her age, her looks, lack of certain experience perhaps. After one promising interview, Kyra knocks over a pencil cup. Awkwardness ensues as she attempts to straighten up; it's clear this encounter is a microcosm of her disappointing life.Reduced to handing out fliers, Kyra's worst fear comes to fruition: Mother has passed away in her favorite chair while Kyra was out looking for meager support. Mom's pension checks were a huge income source; what to do?At the funeral, Kyra is comforted by the apartment complex's maintenance man; the ex-husband makes an appearance, inquires after Kyra's situation. She answers she has "a few things in the works." We can feel her tenuous condition through this popular white lie; though she is looking and looking, jobs are scarce and seemingly always out of reach.After the funeral, Kyra retreats head-down into a nearby bar and encounters a polite neighbor who recalls Kyra taking care of her Mother. This pair will begin a relationship; sexual at first but Kyra makes it clear (by avoiding him for a bit after that first night) she wants more than just a fling. In some ways she wants to be alone, but not so alone her desperation isn't noticed.Soon after the funeral, Kyra tries to cash a check at the bank and is refused. Soon after this, a woman is shown hobbling down the street w/ a cane and showing her ID to cash a check at the same location. And soon after this, Kyra's polite new love interests notes he saw a woman "who looked just like your Mother" the other day while driving (he works as a cabbie, but also spends time in a nursing home for the extra cash.) It's now obvious Kyra is running a pension-check scam; we can see this is done out of necessity. When "Doug" realizes what is happening (he spots her again, this time Kyra sees she is spotted) he is angry and asks her to stop.Kyra does so; she is not one to take charity and at no point does she try to take advantage of anyone to help her now dire situation. But soon an impending eviction notice is tacked on her door; she is four months behind on her Mom's old apartment's rent. Once again, we see "Mom" slowly going down the street.Slowly but surely someone notices something amiss; eventually things come to a head between Kyra and Doug (he agrees to help one last time, once Kyra comes clean about going back to her scheme) and the authorities, who know more than they let on, in devastating fashion.All through this grimness, we see Kyra turned away, politely but firmly, again and again. Her ex-husband helps with what cash he has on him when Kyra makes a desperate plea for any assistance at their old home, after turning up one evening cold and alone and waiting for hours. Kyra studies herself in the mirror often, which gives us a chance to see her determination, but also her silent torment. Is there any hope for Kyra, any rope to be thrown?The final shot lingers in memory; Kyra looking forlorn and perhaps in numb shock as the curtain has come down on her empty stage and she looks out a window to the audience, as if to say "This could be you...beware."Pfeiffer embodies the role of the luckless and beaten Kyra; the few times she holds her head up something soon pushes her chin down again. Sutherland is quite fine as the helpful neighbor; somewhat pushy at first, but backs off when he sees how wounded Kyra is inside and becomes a willing ally. The remaining cast is small. with few lines but not so terse we don't learn something about themselves in this joy-free drama. The film's focus remains on Kyra's struggle, and her growing fear of her charade being discovered. Which makes the plot vehicle of a lost wallet rather questionable; on the other hand when one is desperate and not thinking clearly, things likely won't pan out for the perpetrator of any crime.As has been noted, Where Is Kyra is filmed in such a way that any splash of color (Kyra's yellow coat, a red scarf, etc.) is like a bolt from the blue. The soundtrack is industrial at times, and jarring; this, too is calculated to add tension to the slowly building-up proceedings.Kyra is a short film, and not for impatient viewers. Anyone expecting a happy ending, or a concrete resolution, look elsewhere. Kyra is sadly all too realistic. That a lovely and well-off actress could effectively portray someone like Kyra in all her dour vulnerability is remarkable.

Love Michelle, she is amazing. Was looking forward to watching this. But I couldn't get into it as the setting is just so dark you can hardly see people's faces. Also, the camera angles, people are talking and it seems to be focused on their hair and the back half of their dark head. I felt like I wanted to turn the camera around so I could see. I understand its part of the setting being dark but the camera angles are awful.

I was really excited to see Michelle Pfeiffer, and didn't read any reviews before I watched this. It was very slow, the music hurt my ears, and the story was lacking so much. Nice to see Keifer Sutherland as well. This movie was really disappointing, and boring. The entire story is about a woman who loses her mother, struggles financially so she poses as her dead mother to cash pension checks, and then gets caught by police. I'm not an actor, maybe when you are out of the business for awhile you have to take what you can get to work. Maybe that is the case with this. I hate to be negative but I wished I knew how bad it was before I wasted two hours.