The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him

2014 "Two Films. One Love."
6.8| 1h29m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 October 2014 Released
Producted By: Myriad Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.eleanorrigby-movie.com
Synopsis

Told from the man's perspective, the story of a couple trying to reclaim the life and love they once knew and pick up the pieces of a past that may be too far gone.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Myriad Pictures

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
NateWatchesCoolMovies The Disppearance Of Eleanor Rigby (nothing to do with the Beatles song except a brief reference by a character) is a thoughtful, exceptionally well made film about a couple dealing with an immense tragedy that has put a weight on their relationship, forcing them to take some time apart. James Macavoy, an actor who continues to impress, and Jessica Chastain, always amazing, play the two with diligent feeling and palpable hurt. Now, there's three different edits of the film. His, which is mostly his side of events following the breakup, where Macavoy takes center stage and we see his life. Hers, which shows us where Chastain ends up, and how she is coping. The third version, Theirs, is a truncated version of both stories, leaving out a lot of key scenes and important beats. His and Hers together come out to about four hours of movie watching, but if you're going to invest yourself in their story, you owe it to you self to watch them both, starting with His. Because there is four hours of their story, they are allowed to develop and interact in a fashion that feels far more genuine and lifelike than a rushed two and a half hour movie. Macavoy is an aspiring cook who runs a small café with his friend and sous chef (Bill Hader, fiercely funny) and yearns for Chastain, angry at life for throwing them the curveball it did. He moves in with his father (Ciaran Hinds gives phenomenal work), a successful restauranteer. Chastain moves in with her folks as well, played by Isabelle Huppert and William Hurt. Hurt, who hasn't been around that much lately, makes up for that by anchoring a key scene with Chastain. It's interesting that he gets to play her father in a film, because they both share a measured, baleful, hypnotic grace in their work, and seeing them interacting was a treat for me, being an immense fan of both their work. Now, the film is more than the sum of its parts, but I mean that in a good way, since the parts themselves are so brilliantly done as well. It's what we expect from the romantic drama Avenue, but because we see an extended fluidity to the work, a narrative free from the fractured conventions of usual editing styles, we feel right there with our two protagonists, every step of the way. More films should break the mold and try to be more than just segmented movies, and use immersion techniques like this to draw us in. Coupled with that unique method of delivery comes a sincere commitment from actors and director alike, to explore an aspect of life and relationships that many see as unpleasant or upsetting, yet can still make for beautiful work. Well worth a watch.
secondtake The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby…Him (2013)This is part of a two segment movie about a couple recovering from tragedy (losing a young child) told from the point of view of the mother and father separately. Like "Her," this one is mostly about the protagonist, with some key elements from the relationship unravelling. And like "Her" there is very little about the grieving or the actual tragedy. We are supposed to be dropped into their lives long enough later to be in their individual recoveries.The father here is James McAvoy, and he's good, but he doesn't have the intensity and range of Jessica Chastain, who carries the "Her" movie so well. The supporting cast is thinner here, too—Viola Davis makes only a tangential appearance, and there is little of Isabelle Hupert and none of William Hurt, who both make "Her" rather special. So here we have the somewhat clichéd "friends at a bar" as McAvoy's clan, and it's nothing much.It's tough to judge all of this because I saw "Her" first and so the plot itself was new to me then, and here it is simply the retelling of the same story. So what was most interesting of all was the re-telling of the overlapping sections, seeing the events from different eyes. This wasn't pushed hard, which is fine (this is no "Rashoman"), and so it just makes the pair of movies gel.Beware of the third movie, however—which has the suffix: "Them." I haven't see it (and won't), but it is apparently a mash of the first two, a shortened single version that apparently lacks the potentially probing aspects of the two halves seen singley or together. The two separate movies are sometimes shown or released as a marathon version that is not the same as the shortened, combined Them. So see one of the two single versions and go from there.Advice: "Him" alone is not as satisfying as "Her," for commons reasons like the depth of acting as well as the range of characters. Chastain's version is better by far, but if you do see "Her" first, I think "Him" adds another layer that is satisfying, and not redundant except in just the right moments.
lasttimeisaw The sadness of being an incorrigible completist, I have to finish all these three films before writing my review, Ned Benson's ambitious feature-length debut is a post-trauma story of a young couple Conor (McAvoy) and Eleanor (Chastain) in New York after losing their child in an unspecified accident, HIM centres on Conor and HER centres on Eleanor in the same time period, then interweaves these two versions together, there arrives THEM, one can get an overall view of their paralleled life. So basically, I have watched the same movie twice, and certain scenes three times where the path of Conor and Eleanor converges. The premise is soundingly intriguing, as often cornily referred as two separate cerebral hemispheres, the film allows viewers to observe how men and women think and act differently towards the same scenario, in this case, a heartbroken tragedy. In HIM, the movie starts with one of their most intimate memory before their bereavement, an inadvertent thrill in their ordinary life sparks strong romance with Conor amorously says: "There is only one heart in this body, please have mercy on me". Then it jumps to several months of the aftermath, Eleanor uses an extreme method to declare that their life can not sustain as the status quo, they need to take a break. Conor doesn't understand why she needs her alone-time for her grievance, he is equally heartbroken, but he is ready to move on, leaving the tragedy behind with a seal on it, not to mention and keeps living on afterwards. He opens a bar with his best friend Stuart (Hader) and a flirty barmaid Alexis (Arianda) who is ready to "falling in love with him madly if he allows her". Meanwhile his father Spencer (Hinds) owns a successful restaurant named after Conor's mother, whom he dumped ages ago, it is also a thorny decision for him whether or not to swallow his pride to admit failure and take the restaurant inasmuch as his bar is on the brink of bankrupt, it is a privileged struggle as a rich kid's blues. In HER, no romantic prologue, Eleanor is introduced in her abrupt suicidal behaviour, then she returns to her bourgeoisie parents living in the suburb (played by Hurt and Huppert, he is a university professor and she is French), she goes back to the college and takes a class of professor Lillian Friedman (Davis), before long Conor finds out her whereabouts, stalks her in the street, in the classroom and eagerly to reconnect. As Hurt carefully phrases "Tragedy is a foreign country, we don't know how to talk to the natives", Conor's tentative makeup doesn't work, Eleanor needs to be over-indulged in the past for some time before finally moving forward, plus, she can spend all the time she wants in Paris, to heal her wounds, after a whimsical but failed reconnection during a pouring rain and a vis-a-vis opening-up in the middle of the night, it is rather tedious for her to realise that she should take a real break out of the Tri-state area. The disparity erected between each and every individuals cannot be compromised, only when they arrive in the same page with the same pace, they may have a chance to start anew as a couple. As often as he can, Benson intends to throw snappy verbal rejoinders to sound posh or vivacious, but most of the time they are ill-placed ("Now YOU sound maternal" throwaway) and uninspired, as most of the dialogues verge on beating around the bush either without any substantial function or being painstakingly predictable. Yet the two leads is recommendable in any rate, so it is safe to say the film is perfect for McAvoy and Chastain's stalwarts, both set off a full gamut of emotional overhaul and not to mention many close-ups to let their fans luxuriate in the idolatry. Among the eclectic supporting cast, Huppert radiates in every scene simply by holding a glass of red wine in her hand, and Davis thrusts her raw gravitas into her casual bantering with her THE HELP (2010, 8/10) co- star, as an outsider, she is the one who pierces through the surface without any scruples, only if she could have more screen time in it. The indie soundtrack is an understandable trapping of the prevalent mumblecore output, it's ambient, moody and meditative, tailor-made to outline the disposition of the storyline. Collectively speaking, the films attempt to be artistic and unique, it could have hit the bull- eye with all such a talented group, only if it could subtract the permeating tint of narcissism, and conjure up some more salient epiphany. At last, the THEM version abridges some minor sequences and merges HIM and HER with an intact take on the proceedings. There is no new scenes added, so one can choose to watch HIM and HER, or THEM, either is sufficiently competent to disclose its allure and drawbacks.
IngmarTheBergman My full review can be found on "The Cinematic Conquest", a website."The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her" isn't nearly as innovative as it seems to believe it is. When I read the basic plot description, I figured it could either be a masterpiece, or an exercise in pseudo-intellectual cinema. Somewhat to my surprise, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her", falls into neither category. The film doesn't approach 'masterpiece' status, and for the most part, it never comes across as pretentious. Where director Ned Benson succeeded is in his casting, but where he experienced major fault is through his dialogue and misinterpreting the emotional capacity of what he'd written."Would you still love me if I didn't have enough money to pay for dinner?", Conner asks his will-be wife, the ill-named Eleanor Rigby. They soon find themselves running down the sidewalk, escaping the manager. It becomes apparent that we are witnessing a moment in the life of a couple who are genuinely in love. We fast forward several years later, and their relationship is no longer as simple to define. After losing their beloved one-year old child, and a suicide attempt on behalf of Eleanor, they find themselves separated. The film(s) chronicle the perspective of the two characters and the events they experience while apart from each other. In the end, it's a testament of the relationship between a man and a woman.Jessica Chastain has quickly risen to the top actresses in the past two years. In selecting a wide variety of roles, Chastain is proving her talent, and creating a promising future for herself. "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her" is simply another strong step in proving her talent to audiences. Her neurotic character is easily the strongest part of the film. James McAvoy is also strong in this film, yet his character seems as though he was given a little less to work with. It must have been difficult for McAvoy considering his character is very plain and simple, whereas the character of Eleanor is more of an enigma, that we explore later on in the film. Nonetheless, McAvoy gives a good performance - yet not a great one. The supporting cast was another highlight of the film. "SNL" comedian, Bill Hader gives a chance to prove he's more than a comedy actor, a chance most people in his field aren't given. His character felt very natural, as Conner's best friend. Viola Davis is the female version of Hader's character, as she befriends Rigby. Davis delivers yet another clever performance in this film, yet, she does lack a little bit of gravity which would have transformed her role in "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her" from being 'funny' to being 'funny' and 'moving'. Ciaran Hinds is decent within this film, yet a great deal of his dialogue is overly sappy, that I found it fairly difficult to take him seriously. Although his performance was fine, it was difficult to separate his acting from the character's dialogue, so ultimately, I wasn't too fond of his performance in the film. Isabelle Huppert is an incredibly versatile actress. It's astonishing to compare her utterly frightening role in Haneke's "The Piano Teacher" to her role as the caring mother of Eleanor Rigby in this film. Although her character wasn't the most essential to the film, I think it merited a fair bit within the details. However, in the supporting cast, the greatest performance went without a doubt to William Hurt, who plays the role of Eleanor's father. We only see him in "Her", and for a majority of that, his performance is very subtle, until the end when it becomes vital to the thematic portion of the film, and the ending. He delivers a small scene which shines very brightly, establishing him as a very powerful actor (not that we don't already know this).During a great deal of "Him" I was struck by how ridiculously melodramatic a lot of the dialogue came across as. The scene between Eleanor and Conner felt highly unnatural, and I was highly disappointed. Luckily, either the dialogue improved - or I subconsciously adjusted (although I highly doubt that). No matter what it was, it certainly interfered with my enjoyment of "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her".The overall innovation of the plot line, is much slimmer than I'd expected. For one, the plot is stretched out for longer than it needed to be. It should have been one film, with a little cut out. As well, the details separating the two perspective is incredibly subtle - but nonetheless, meaningless. We have sit through sequences we've already watched (although Benson did use separate takes and separate angles - which was not a good choice in my opinion). I could understand using different angles, to capture how the other person would see the situation, but because of the different takes, the lines were occasionally different. As well, the idea behind the 'two perspectives' was used somewhat stupidly during some parts of the films. The repeat scenes were used so some of the lines were reversed from the other version of the scene. For example, if in one scene in "Him" Conner had said "I'm sorry", when we see in "Her", Eleanor might have said "I'm sorry", instead of Conner. Fairly pointless use of what could have a genuinely innovative concept.Overall, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and Her" is a film that should be seen for its great performances, yet all in all, it's not a breath of fresh cinema, as I had hoped.