Forty Shades of Blue (2005)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Ira Sachs

Writers:

Michael Rohatyn (writer)
Ira Sachs (writer)

Release Date:

7 December 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.

Plot Keywords:

Title Spoken By Character | Number In Title

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Dina Korzun	...	Laura
Rip Torn	...	Alan James
Darren E. Burrows	...	Michael James (as Darren Burrows)
Andrew Henderson	...	Sam James
Liz Morton	...	Cindy, Babysitter
Joanne Pankow	...	Aunt Betty
Arielle Kight	...	Teenage Singer
J. Blackfoot	...	Herself
Red West	...	Duigan
Jenny O'Hara	...	Celia
Jerry Chipman	...	Shel
Mary Jean McAdams	...	Gena
Charly Kayle	...	Karin
J. Allen Scott	...	Press Photographer
Earl Randle	...	Old Timer

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

USA:108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Charlie Guidance

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006) (TV)

Vain, Dull, Stupid. . . Excruciating!

As several other reviewers pointed out, the principle theme of this film was boredom without redemption, and that's precisely what the viewer experiences. However it does succeed in what seems to be its intent: to show the unrelenting misery and suffocating dullness of its main character's life. . . a good dose of intravenously administered sodium pentathol would have helped the viewer survive this. However, without the aid of drugs, the effect is one of acute claustrophobia and overwhelming apathy as it pertains to the development of the characters. Add to this the endlessly dismal and muddy camera work, and you end up with 107 minutes of wasted film stock. I saw this at the Film Forum here in NYC, famous for the patience of its audience, and for the first time in my memory at this venue viewers were walking out before the end. In one of the few seminal lines of this bomb, the Russian character Laura remarks with exasperation that "Americans are so Spoiled!" Indeed they are. That Ira Sachs was somehow able to obtain the money to produce and distribute this dreary nonsense masquerading as emotional insight was an extreme and unforgivable indulgence on the part of some misguided benefactor.