Themes: Haunted By the Past, Mothers and Daughters, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy
Release Year: 2007
Country: US/DE
Run Time: 117 minutes
Plot
As Constance (Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Collette) gather at the deathbed of their mother, Ann (Vanessa Redgrave), they learn for the first time that their mother lived an entire other lifetime during one evening 50 years ago, one she kept secret all their lives. In vivid flashbacks, the young Ann (played by Claire Daines) spends one night with a man named Harris (Patrick Wilson), whom she'd remember so many years later as the love of her life. As her daughters try to face the loss of their mother and the struggle to be happy in their own lives, they piece together an idea of love, happiness, and the woman they called their mother. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
Review
Female viewers over 40 have become an under-served demographic, but Hollywood throws them a bone with Evening, the type of unapologetic weepie that used to get made regularly, but hasn't materialized as much since the 1990s. The genre clearly hasn't lost its credibility with actresses, as a talented selection of them turn up here -- Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Toni Collette and Clare Danes, to name just a few. Acclaimed cinematographer Lajos Koltai, a second-time director after shooting some 50 films, seems to know what performances he wants, and for the most part gets them. (As may be no surprise from someone with his eye, the Newport setting also looks gorgeous). The problem with Evening, then, is the "so what?" factor, which tends to undercut numerous films that romanticize love stories from decades in the past. Even with a sprinkling of real tragedy, this particular wedding-weekend romance just doesn't seem epic enough that its details would resurface to Ann (played by Danes and Redgrave) on her death bed. The idea of "the one that got away" has a definite tragic romanticism for genre fans, but it also raises the bar, requiring the filmmakers to demonstrate why the dashing Harris (Patrick Wilson) had more substance than a weekend fling. For fans of Susan Minot's book, his character was also changed from an opportunistic womanizer to a blandly sympathetic gentleman, diminishing the "dangerous allure" he needs to project. Completing the structural similarity to films like How to Make an American Quilt, the younger generation also has its set of complementary issues to work through. But Collette and Natasha Richardson (Redgrave's actual daughter) get short-changed on their half of this equation, as the ways Ann became a not-so-great mother to them are neither detailed nor interesting -- another change from Minot's novel. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Jordan Jacobs - Art Director, Thomas A. Reilly - Associate Producer, Suzanne Crowley - Casting, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Chris Michael Peterson - Choreography, Nina Wolarsky - Co-producer, Luke Parker Bowles - Co-producer, Claire Taylor - Co-producer, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Michelle Matland - Costume Designer, Thomas A. Reilly - First Assistant Director, Lajos Koltai - Director, Allyson C. Johnson - Editor, Susan Minot - Executive Producer, Jill Footlick - Executive Producer, Michael Cunningham - Executive Producer, Robert Kessel - Executive Producer, Michael Hogan - Executive Producer, Michael Hogan Robert - Executive Producer, Andrew Saxe - Location Manager, Adam McCarthy - Location Manager, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek - Composer (Music Score), Linda Cohen - Musical Direction/Supervision, Bill Trautvetter - Camera Operator, Caroline Hanania - Production Designer, Gyula Pados - Cinematographer, Jeff Sharp - Producer, Tom Williams - Sound/Sound Designer, Blaise Corrigan - Stunts Coordinator, George Aguilar - Stunts Coordinator, Nellie Nugiel - Unit Production Manager, Steph Accetta - Unit Production Manager, Susan Minot - Screenwriter, Michael Cunningham - Screenwriter, Aaron Weintraub - Visual Effects Supervisor, Jennifer Lane - Post Production Supervisor, Judy Richter - Production Supervisor, Reilly Steele - Re-Recording Mixer, Dave Paterson - Re-Recording Mixer, Robin Squibb - Script Supervisor, Deanna Leslie Kelly - Second Assistant Director, Brant S. Fagan - Steadicam Operator, Dave Paterson - Supervising Sound Editor, Sheila Allen - Production Accountant, Mr. X - Visual Effects, Catherine Davis - Set Decorator, Susan Minot - Book Author
