Review of The City of Your Final Destination (2009) by Mark A — 03 Nov 2010
One comes to expect a certain level of quality to a Merchant-Ivory production, and this certainly delivers. The cinematography is lush, the characters are fully drawn, and the story quietly exposes the prejudices of those characters.
Omar (Omar Metwally) is a young academic who travels to Uruguay to pursue permission to write an authorized biography of an author who only produced one book before committing suicide, but earned enough to retreat to South America with his wife, Caroline (Laura Linney), his mistress, Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and his brother, Adam (Anthony Hopkins).
Omar's quest is prompted by his overbearing girlfriend, Deirdre (Alexandra Maria Lara), but immediately runs into the determined opposition of Caroline. The rest of the film is devoted to finding alliances and negotiating the required permissions.
It is certainly slow paced, almost languid, but it never loses its way and the story unfolds as it inevitably must. One feels great sympathy for all but the girlfriend, yet even she mellows by the end.
This review of The City of Your Final Destination (2009) was written by Mark A on 03 Nov 2010.
The City of Your Final Destination has generally received mixed reviews.
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