Review of A Thousand Times Good Night (2013) by Manny C — 06 Nov 2014

This Irish movie has a good cast, and the plot sounded interesting, so I was excited to watch it. Let me tell you. The first 15 minutes of this movie is one of the most intense openings I have ever seen.

The rest of the movie is quieter, both literally and figuratively. Career vs. Family can be a tired plotline, and is a lot of the time, but in this, it doesn't feel tired at all. It lags in the middle just a tad, but picks back up again when she goes to Kenya with her daughter.

Juliette Binoche is wonderful as Rebecca, the photographer. You can see her really struggling to make the balancing act work. I will say though, I don't quite know what was going on with her accent.

She's French, and the characters are all Irish. And sometimes the accent was one or the other or a weird mix. So, I didn't get if maybe her character was supposed to be not Irish? Or maybe she moved to Ireland? I don't know.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was good as the husband. The only thing that didn't really work wasn't his fault. One of the first conversations he has with Binoche's character involves giving her an ultimatum.

So honestly, the script really gave him nowhere to go. But, a little side note for any Orphan Black fans, Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs. S) is in like three scenes. It's a small part and she doesn't even have a name, she's just a family friend, but still.

Anyway, I would highly recommend this. It's interesting, engaging, and I need more people to watch it so I can discuss it more.