An Unfinished Life is rich with diversity of relational contexts and emotional perspectives. In its exploration of forgiveness and responsibility, one central conflict is echoed and reflected in multiple …more »»
Film Talks Tagged ‘Drama’
An Unfinished Life (2005)
(After viewing)
by Randy Heffner — March 6, 2010
After watching An Unfinished life, and seeing played out before me its multi-faceted exploration of blaming and forgiveness, I hope I am more senstive to my own hidden issues of blaming. Blaming so insidiously takes root …more »»
Up in the Air (2009)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — February 18, 2010
What if your job had you on the road 322 days a year…traveling alone? What if you spent most of those days firing people? Starting with this bleak relational backdrop, Up in the Air explores hope, stability, …more »»
Upstream Color (2013)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — May 27, 2013
In a story told more through image and feeling than through dialog and action, Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color explores human identity and authenticity, deception and complicity, loss and …more »»
War Horse (2011)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — January 28, 2012
About the story in War Horse, a strict realist would say, “Yeah, right. How likely is that?” I hold to the old adage “truth is stranger than fiction” — or even Jack Johnson’s “fact and fiction work as a team.” But, I do have reservations about the …more »»
Winter’s Bone (2010)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — November 14, 2010
The opening of Winter’s Bone is exquisitely crafted to draw us slowly in from the lightness of country children playing on a trampoline to the core tension of the story. The contrast lends great effect …more »»
Wit (2001)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — July 16, 2009
In the context of a life and death scenario, Wit intensely explores issues of life before death by juxtaposing the emotional sterility of the typical health care process, the purpose of academic rigor, simple human caring, the power of art, and the value and dignity of a human. …more »»
Wit (2001)
(After viewing)
by Randy Heffner — July 16, 2009
Having seen Wit, I want to take life more seriously. What I mean is that I want to take living life fully more seriously. I tend to think that living seriously means Doing Important Things. In Vivian’s case, this meant …more »»
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
(Before viewing)
by Randy Heffner — January 15, 2013
Zero Dark Thirty is tense, tight, and deep into the uncertainties and risks of intelligence work in a post-9/11, terror-ridden world. Indeed, the film’s exploration begins and ends with that fact: that our world is …more »»
