Anyone remember Go! ?
Go! was the first movie in which I saw Sarah Polley. It was one of the earlier multiple thread genre movies and is always fun to watch again.
(At least) three people stood out in that movie:
Katie Holmes
Timothy Olyphant
Sarah Polley
And they've proven, over time, why they caught our eye.
Katie Holmes is cute, and a fine actress and all, though, to me, she stands out as someone who had the guts and intelligence (common sense?) to walk away from a scientology relationship.
Timothy Olyphant. Well, all I need say is "Deadwood" and "Justified." Girls like him. Guys want to be him.
And Sarah Polley. That expressive face in Go! (for those of us who saw her for the first time therein) gave little indication of the multi-talented creativity within. You can't NOT be affected by "Away From Her." And "Stories We Tell" is, in a non-fictional way, another directing effort that makes us look at facets of our own lives. And maybe question what we've heard or how we've described things ourselves.
(May be spoilers below.)
I'm not naive, but it was very late in the movie before I questioned how many home movies the Polley family must have taken. Not to mention the assorted outside witnesses who all seemed to have 8mm cameras handy for visual scenes to match the dialogue. Upon reflection, it was clear that actors must have been used.
However, to me, it was a clear indication that I was wrapped up in the stories told instead of the mechanics of the cinema re-telling. I think the merging of real life with reel life (faux and real) to advance the story was extraordinary because of its subtlety. Without the seemingly real family footage, we'd be left with an audio book.
Had no clue what this movie was whcn I saw it on the RedBox kiosk. But when I saw that Sarah Polley created it, I had no hesitation in clicking "Rent Me." This movie will continue that automatic impulse to see whatever she has a hand in.