Instant Favorite.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Similar to other Merchant-Ivory productions this one deals with inner struggles of its characters and as with films such as Howards End, I was glued to the screen watching how these interwoven characters travelled leading to a rather surprising climax! The location shooting did make for a better sense of reality here and what a cast! Glenn Close is just tops in her role as the Shakespearean diva. A highlight is brilliant scenes of her rehearsing Macbeth. The gay plot line was very cleverly woven in as well dealing with the issue of a confused sexual identity. A mesmerizing score only helps with the inner intensity of the characters dilemmas keeping the scenarios in check without an overly dramatic interpretation being added on by this score. Sorry that this did not come to screens here where we live. Highly recommended for those wanting something more introspective and of depth. 9/10

Heights is astonishing masterpiece, artistic film with the only commercial credit put in star actors such as Glenn Close, Isabella Rossellini and George Segal. Directors who had made ripe and perfect films before their thirties are rare - for the moment I can only recollect Orson Welles, who made Citizen Kane at his twenty sixth, Jim Jarmusch, who entirely created Permanent Vacation at his twenty seventh, and at recent times Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed Magnolia at his twenty ninth. Obviously influenced by Robert Altman and his interlaced narration about interrelated people represented in his late shortcuts style and Jim Jarmusch's pseudo documentary, artistic approach to movie contents and characters, the Heights at first, superficial glance resembles Magnolia, reduced of its warmth and immediate cuts. But, although the both films are equal by their strength and deepness, they are quite different in their narration and artistic expression, leaving only Altman's transformed influence as common relation. On the other side, the influence of Jim Jarmusch is much stronger, especially regarding interaction between characters, which is more important than plot, and the elegance of Heights which resembles the one of notable Jarmusch's films such as Mystery Train, Night on Earth and Ghost Dog. Certainly, that influence is not linear, but transposed into phenomenological philosophy with optimistic devotion to humans and world at all. Elegant and artistically perfect, this film can be watched coloured, as it is made, but also as black and white, without loosing anything of it worthiness. Let us hope that Chris Terrio will not run down in his career and that he is going to make such excellent movies in the future.

HEIGHTS ***** A cross between 'Playing By Heart' and 'The Ice Storm', 'Heights' is a ferociously clever montage of character triumph and fumble, played within an aura of amorality and dark secrecy. Callaborators Chris Turrio and Amy Fox seem to have the simple intention of penetrating an interplay of character dynamic to the audience, making sense and importance out of each scene, and reaching a faithful finale. The film's quasi-surreal blend of musical score (Ben Butler, Martin Erskine) and direction (Turrio) makes the story seem more complicated than it really is because, in truth, the viewer can relate to its societal or interpersonal issues in a degree. The story presents a search one takes in finding something more fulfilling when life has either grown weary or boring. The densely layered characters all have this hunger, with modulated performances that govern the transition between normal thinking and obscure behavior amid their struggles. Within the famous theater actress (Glenn Close), who has skill and a passion for her work, we sense delicate vulnerability due to an impacting marital issue she's facing. Her daughter (Elizabeth Banks) has troubles of her own: Finessing her decisions between the welfare of others and meeting her own needs, particularly in terms of whether to marry a burdened attorney (James Marsden). I don't believe it's a film to take lightly, but it's definitely a rewarding viewing, with accolades deserved by all involved.

What I like about this film is that it moves like a panther. I feel like I'm outside of it but close enough to smell it. There is lots of intimacy and wonderful performances by everyone, some of which weren't fully comprehensible until the end. Glenn Close is an amazing person to watch doing anything and it was a double treat to see her, in dark hair no less (which I loved), playing an actress going in and out of character all of the time. Elizabeth Banks grew on me - at first, I just wished it were Parker Posey (whom she reminded me of at first). But, as the film developed and I could get over that resemblance, I enjoyed her performance. Jesse Bradford, who has been showing up in a lot of interesting roles the past few years, was notable as always. I liked George Segal as the rabbi without a clue until his being exactly where and what he needed to be when it really counted. Another thing about the film overall which I really liked was that the gay, straight, and everyone in between characters were all so much more real than they usually are in film. They were all over the map and that's where we all are in real life so it was a pleasure to see that. There were nuances on top of nuances and that, too, is what most of us experience but rarely see on film. James Marsden was great as Jonathan from the beginning to the end. I really liked Rufus Wainwright's character Jeremy... reminded me of a good friend of mine. There are too many good moments in the film to list them all.