Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her 4/10

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her (PG-13) 2000
Reviewer’s Tilt (4)
Drama-109min
Special DVD Features worth a look-None

Miss this one at the theaters? Do not feel bad, so did everyone else. Oh yeah, a few artsy types frequenting art houses in San Francisco might have had the pleasure, but for the rest of us, the experience is strictly relegated to the small screen. Other the short art house runs, the film went straight to Showtime and DVD. Although the direct-to-video route is typically reserved for bad, low budget animation and slasher flicks, this film is neither, actually winning awards at both Cannes and Sundance. Borrowing the talents of Holly Hunter, Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, Amy Brenneman, Calista Flockhart and Kathy Baker, each for a one week stint, “Things You Can Tell” parlays a miniscule $2 Million budget into an engaging tale, interweaving the lives of seven, very different women. Hunter plays a single bank manager, living the lie that her adulterous affair is not eroding her soul. Close, is a doctor, seeking the warmth and companionship her aging mother cannot provide. Brenneman and Diaz play single sisters, one overprotective and the other blind, but incredibly resilient. Flockhart plays a woman witnessing cancer slowly and painfully steep the life out of her lover (Valeria Golino). Kathy Baker plays a divorced mother enchanted by her vertically challenged neighbor, played skillfully by Danny Woodburn.

The stories never shock or astound, but simply engage the viewer in the ebbs and flows of the complex lives of women. Never losing sight of the premise that “Only a fool would speculate about the life of a woman” the film uncovers many subtle similarities and several distinct differences in the decidedly diverse lives. Make no mistake; this is first and foremost a movie for women. It just so happens to be told so well, the rest of us cannot help learning a thing or two about how little we actually know about the women that surround us.

Format: Color, Widescreen Anamorphic, Closed captioned.
Sound: (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Extras: Trailer.