Diana Geraldine’s review published on Letterboxd:
You do what your heart says you have to. Cause you don’t owe anyone your life. Even me.
[Screened at UNCSA on Nov. 12th at 7pm in an advance screening, courtesy of NBCUniversal]
I went into this film wondering about how they’d pull off the power of filmmaking… and yet filmmaking really did guide everything in the film. Sam (Steven, really)’s life, his parents’ relationship, even his school life. An incredible experience for the theater. If I ever reach that point in my craft, I’ll be set.
Extra huge shoutout to the El Cid, Ben-Hur, How the West Was Won, and Captain from Castile records for being films which I know from historical film analysis class.
Some of the cheesy bits might not have always landed, and the dramatic parts were tough… but there were still lots of laughs throughout and a great crowd always makes a smile come alight.
Also, me being Jewish and getting all the references was a hell of an experience.
Bless Williams and Spielberg. So well done, especially the connections to piano featuring with Mitzi in both source and score.
And my favorite Michelle Williams moment involving the piano bench during a family spat. I’ll leave that for you all to discover for yourselves.
Now get the fuck out of my office.
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