Strong and Moving!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Marketed with the promotional tagline "A slightly twisted comedy", that is not even the half of it as this Hal Hartley film focuses on an unconventional and entirely non-sexual romance that develops between a pregnant teenager and a social misfit twice her age. Both characters curiously defy the initial impressions that they give. As the teen, Adrienne Shelly seems bratty and brainless, wearing heavy makeup and disrespecting her parents, however, she gradually becomes more dowdy after her parents and her boyfriend both reject her upon learning about the pregnancy. As the social misfit, Martin Donovan (no, not the director of 'Apartment Zero'; another Martin Donovan) seems dangerous and prone to violent outbursts, but totally submissive when around his bathroom sanity obsessed father, Donovan also shows us a beating human heart beneath the anger. The film takes a bit too long to bring the two characters together (it is a full 26 minutes before their separate plots converge), but there is a lot to like in how they trust each other for different reasons; her for his sincerity and workplace integrity and him for her genuine warmth. Hartley unnecessarily complicates things with a stolen baby subplot that awkwardly pops up every now and again without offering any real perspective on how Shelley feels about her own baby to-be. In the scenes where Hartley just lets his characters interact with each other though, the film rarely skips a beat. Rebecca Nelson is also very good as the girl's mother who goes from resenting Donovan to trying to manipulate who he likes for her own advantage.

Most popular films delineate their stories in a rather comical and insipid way: the dialogue is often exchanged between characters as if it were bounced off a Spartan gladiator - and, in some cases very little to short-of-nothing is penetrable in the film."Trust" is a film that inverses that idea - and does so with wit, charm, and most importantly: astute cleverness. The story begins with careful sequencing that portrays each character a new journey of life. We see an antisocial protagonist, a pregnant girl who recently dropped out of high school, and a motherly type whose apathy is cunning and partially insane. "Trust" is a love story that defies any cliché of filmmaking. The lead character pours his organism into the film and invokes integrity of personality without apprehension or any constipation (who can forget that wit from Mr Slaughter??) The film is about what happens when we take chances, and don't take chances. In short: it's about being and what happens when we share our being with others.The film's sequencing is what I loved most of all. It's weaved into a fabric that reminded me of early avant-garde films (the envelope of the story is reminiscent of Kubricks's older film "The Killing") and perhaps more-or-less surprising is the protagonist(played by Martin Donovan) exchanges silence; those rare moments in the film that can't help to be compared to the work of Godard. Momentarily, it shines solicitude and violence (the symbolism is slightly ironic and very insincere.) My favorite moments are about jeering characters who feel unwanted.A definite must-watch. I recommend it to anyone, everyone.

Trust (1990) - 10/10 As a filmmaker, Hal Hartley will forever divide audiences due to his unique story-telling style, dead-pan humour and tendency to favour words over action. His themes are often subtle and can take more than one viewing to fully understand or appreciate. Something which, understandably, can put off many.But whether you adore his style or think it to be moronic, no-one can deny that he is and always will be an inspired writer and director. A director who has influenced many and will continue to do so, I am sure, for years to come. Now I fall into the category of adoration and I believe 'Trust' to be his finest work.'Trust' focuses on the coming together of two characters. Maria Coughlin, a pregnant high-school dropout who has just been the cause of her fathers fatal heart attack, and Matthew Slaughter, an intellectual loner who still lives with his sadistic father. Sound like a standard, if a bit over the top, romance? You couldn't be more wrong.What makes Hartley's films so special, and 'Trust' is no exception, are the characters he manages to create. Though the situations they get into and the characters around them are nothing short of surreal, the way the react to each situation and deal with very serious issues could not be more realistic.A huge reason for this is his dialogue. Reminiscent of early Richard Linklater or Godard, his flowing, straight to the point script has you hooked from the word go. Fantastically direct delivery from both Shelley and Donovan allow this dialogue to shine and have you believe you these characters are friends you have known for years.In 'Trust' I believe Hartley has created one of the most earnest romances ever to be filmed. Utterly believable and almost heartbreakingly beautiful, this is certainly not a film to be missed.10/10

Watching Hal Hartley's Trust for the second time 15 years later is exhilarating and somewhat disappointing. The characters are contrived and overintellectualized, and the conflict between parent and child here doesn't ring true (it seems to have the usual bitterness of college sophomores). Also the gestures and dialogue are stagy and slightly pretentious. Never mind that; you're missing the point. The film is not aiming at realism; it's aiming at conveying the emotional turbulence of young adult struggling to break free from the orbit of their parents.Plot and incident flow naturally and often end up in unexpected places. There's lots of surprises, many of them comic. The film is about throwing characters together and watching how they react. The moment where the girl messes up the kitchen makes you wonder, how will the father react? The dialogue (reminiscient of Stoppard or Mamet) is curt and enigmatic and challenging. And always entertaining. People are learning from one another and changing..possibly improving. The movie Trust is less about plot than a certain attitude toward life--how much trust should we place in family, friends, peers? People don't have secrets or histories; they have metaphysical complaints and frustrated dreams. Martin Donovan and Adrienne Shelly are not only young charismatic actors, they act and react with subtlety and focus. Yet both have chemistry with one another and manage to sustain this intensity without going too far (Kudos to Mr. Hartley for not aimingfor sympathy or making motives too transparent). Donovan seems adept at playing characters about to boil under, but manage to hold it in (He's at his best in the film Surviving Desire,).Adrienne, that moment when you put on your glasses at the end was a great cinematic moment. Hopeful, assertive and maybe even cocky. Your fans will always have that moment to remember you by. If you liked Trust, you'd also enjoy: Hartley's Surviving Desire (although it's more arty), Jill Sprecher's 13 Conversations about One Thing and her earlier film, Clockwatchers).