Don't Believe the Hype

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

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.

In a perfect mix of French "amour" and American fast-track filming, enter 5 to 7, a good old love story that actually focus on love rather than crazy, life-changing situations. You will laugh, but not feel like you are in a cheap comedy. You will smile, but only because you feel the characters happiness. You will sometimes feel stunned, sad, and a slight discomfort, and all of that is just going to make you want to see more and more.At some point, you might be inclined to try and guess what is going to happen, but whether you see things coming or not, you will be too busy enjoying this amazing, feeling-packed movie, like nothing you have seen, at least not in the past ten years. The cast choice is just great, the script is simple, yet powerful and modern. You may just learn a thing or two about either culture, but mostly, you will feel all kinds of stuff. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good romance; maybe I got a bit weary of today's blockbusters; but I can tell you that I started watching this unintentionally on the TV, and I immediately knew it was going to be a great and powerful movie, with a strong message... and Arielle will make sure you know she has great teeth!

5 to 7 (2014)Oh, right, this drip of a leading male glances across the street and sees a gorgeous girl and he wanders over and it turns out she's just possibly open to having an affair with him, but only from 5 to 7 each weekday because, you realize, she's married.The movie takes this all quite seriously in a slightly stylized version of a Linklater film, filled with ordinary conversation as we get to know these two leads. This puts a lot of pressure on the writing, which is weak—the dialog is stilted and the overall narrative idea is stale. The addition of older (better) actors later (Close and Langella) is of course helpful, but I still find the plot forced. I mean, an open marriage is an old and fertile idea for movies and literature (and life). But it can't just be laid out as if we've never encountered it before.Can we say this is all artfully on purpose? That it's a style to appear a little lame all along, not reaching too high, making it ordinary? Maybe, but not here, not for me. A miserable experience.

Apparently, a movie, even without being non-fiction, it can make the life of the protagonist perfect in all sense. Anton Yelchin, who was amazing in Alpha Dog, now seems to not have a clue about acting. He overreacts in all corners, and unfortunately, for me, it stressed me the hell out. I would love to meet someday, a group of people, so balanced, ego-free, and totally sane, that they can have a complete and fulfilling life, even when they know they both have a side partner. I always try to identify the good aspects of the movie, the bright side if you will. I totally couldn't with this one. A paper thin plot, a pseudo smart narrative, and perfect nonsense circumstances for the main character. The only thing I learned about this movie is to make better choices when I get to go to the theater.

Review: I did find the beginning of this movie a bit strange, because the random events that led to Brian (Anton Yelchin) and Arielle (Berenice Marlohe) having an affair, was pretty quick for two people who just met on the streets of a New York and the fact that she is married with kids, also made it feel slightly unrealistic. I did like the chemistry between the two lovers, who only was unable to meet in a hotel room between 5pm and 7pm but the strange thing about the film is that her husband, Valery (Lambert Wilson), was also having an affair with his assistant Jane (Olivia Thirlby), and everyone knew what was happening, including Arielle's kids. After a while, Brian wants more than 2 hours with Arielle and he asks her to leave her husband but she isn't willing to leave her flamboyant life style, and to take her kids away from there dad, for a relationship that is based on 2 hours a day. Which is understandable! Anyway, the first half of the movie is fast moving and the witty script made it a decent watch but once reality kicks in, the movie gets pretty serious and the ending is quite predictable. Personally, I thought that Brian was going to end up with Jane because they had great chemistry on screen but they both ended up getting married and having children with different partners. From an entertainment point of view, it seemed like a typical Woody Allen, New York type of love story at the beginning but then it went downhill after the relationship went sour. Average!Round-Up: Although this movie got great reviews, and Glenn Close and Frank Langella was cast as Brian's parents, it still didn't do too well at the box office, mainly because Anton Yelchin hasn't really established his name yet. The Russian born 27 year old, has starred in some big movies like the new Star Trek franchise as Chekov, the new Fright Night, which was pretty poor, the Beaver with Mel Gibson, Alpha Dog, the under rated House of D and Along Came A Spider but he's yet to make a big impact on the big screen. At such a young age and with another Star Trek due to come out this year, he has plenty of time to become a household name. Anyway, this is the first movie, written and directed by Victor Levin who is known for writing the TV series, Mad About You, Win A Date with Tad Hamilton, Then She Found Me, My Sassy Girl, We Are Family and a couple of episodes of Mad Men. He could have easily given this film a happy ending, which wouldn't have been morally correct were the kids are in involved but at least there experience together, stuck with them throughout there life's. For his first movie, he didn't do too bad but it does dry up towards the end.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $170,000I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/romance/comedies starring Anton Yelchin, Berenice Marlohe, Olivia Thirlby, Eric Stolz, Glenn Close, Frank Langella, Lambert Wilson and Jocelyn DeBoer. 5/10