Fridae

Here's the other movie of the week you should try to squeeze into
your busy schedule if you're a serious movie buff. Adapted from
John Irving's novel A Widow For One Year, it is directed
by Tod Williams.

Like Maria Full Of Grace's director Joshua Marston, Tod
has no real track record apart from a 1999 film called The Adventures
Of Sebastian Cole. Yet, he manages pulls off a complex and
multi-layered film filled with pitch-perfect performances and dialogue.

Jon Forster plays Eddie, a young and innocent writer-wannabe who
gets as a summer job as an apprentice to a famous children's book
writer, Ted Cole. But instead of getting tips on writing, Eddie
becomes an observer and participant of Ted's dysfunctional household,
with his lonely wife, his neurotic mistresses and his troubled kids.

This is beautiful, melancholy film about the unavoidable messiness
of life and family relationships. You have to be in the right mood
to watch it though. Otherwise, you'd be feeling depressed the whole
day.