Moustroll
Good movie but grossly overrated
Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
bjarias
.. if Russian women are purported to be highly educated and intelligent.. then this one for sure must be one of the very dumb ones... she's living with a guy thirty years older, has a kid with him, then proceeds to have an affair with his eldest son, who is nearer her age, and who's married with a family of his own... oh yea, to top it all off, she goes ahead and falls in love with him.. and near the end drops a line blowing up all their futures.. someone worked really hard on this fantasy plot.. more like Forty Shades of Stupidity.. if it garnered any kind of buzz/attention.. it could only be because of the likes of a Rip Torn, otherwise most would not be paying much attention at all.. it's a kind '5'
webcrind
A price winning movie?? What is going on in the film industry? This a depressing story with no point to it. A miserable and unhappy Russian bride, that should have no worry in the world since she lives like a princess, is unhappy in her relationship with a music producer. When she mets his son, she is slowly falling for him. Now that alone would be very strange enough, but we don't really find out what's the fascination with the son Michael. He is educated in the English language beyond the norm, even we are a tad confused if he is just a teacher or a professor, but we have no evidence for either, since the guy is not capable of holding any intelligent dialogues, be it for the lack of available words or him being simply stupid. After torturing myself through the movie, I was totally let down by the ending, where the main character is back to square one. Researching the lead actress on IMDb I found the following: She has been called the Russian Julia Roberts because of her stunning beauty. Wow! It never occurred to me that Mrs. Roberts has any kind of beauty, except of course one likes crooked legs, no hips and lips pumped with botox, but this Russian actress is definitely much uglier, if that is possible. If these women are considered attractive by some, how would one describe Juliet Binoche, Jessica Biel or Rosamund Pike? OK, sorry, I am getting of topic, but I never understood why recent directors take on topics like that. John Cassavetes has dealt with similar topics in the past and has done a fantastic job. But if one is not on that intellectual level, why bother.
kjprar
interested to see the comments about boredom and apathy. for me, that's what makes it painful, on a certain scale worth exploring. those "hints" only of pathos, the withholding of basic human emotion, the absence of basic communication and some basic caretaking instincts (with the exception of somewhat successful attempts at sporadic parenting). i know from personal experience that a certain superficial world (alongside many gorgeous, fulfilling worlds) -- existing as it does around the very art that expresses the great suffering and joy of our culture (i.e., blues and other idioms) -- causes visceral pain if one tries to jump in, unaware and unprotected. viewers may feel that vulnerability and become quite disturbed. such a creative-world of superficiality, it seems, usually results from cumulative effect of chemicals (drugs, booze), money (denied... or accepted without feeling worthy or knowing what to do with it), or promises unfulfilled for artists and others around them who don't make it quite the way they planned. complicate that with a very distinct set of circumstances that worldly Russian female émigrés understand all too well, and there is no choice but to tell an insecure story in a wavy, unresolved way. i live in hope. always hope. but i thought the film was brilliant. its examples of every single nerve crying out for attention were succinct. i did not think the characters were unworthy of redemption, though i "liked" some more than others. redemption doesn't have to come in the movie. and god knows for some it never comes. i'm crazy about the terrific music. suffice it to say memphis blues + rip torn + an intelligent plot of unrelenting human drama equal a no brainer for me.
FritzdaCat
Someone must have thought really highly of this film, or it wouldn't have won the Grand Prize at Sundance 2005. I was just forty shades of bored. "Forty Shades of Blue" chronicles the emotional journey of Laura, the Russian common-law wife of Alan James (Rip Torn), a legendary music producer with a drinking problem and a wandering eye. When Laura embarks on an affair with Alan's stony-faced son Michael (Darren Burrows) the ensuing love triangle should be as hot as the Memphis summer. Instead it falls flat. Even the sex scenes are drab. There are only two remarkable things about "Forty Shades of Blue." One is what could be described as a nuanced performance by Dina Korzun as Laura. This actress can say a lot without talking, which is merciful given the dreary quality of most of the dialog in this film. The other thing is her haunting rendition of the title song. Buy the single, skip the film. 2 stars out of 5.
