 | |
List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Hbo Home Video
Salesrank: 18313
Released: September 13, 2005 |
| Our Price: $4.08 |
| Used Price: $2.42 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Adapted by author Richard Russo from his 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, EMPIRE FALLS is a portrait of the gritty drama and human comedy that make up everyday life in blue-collar America. On a daily basis, goodhearted restaurant manager Miles Roby (Ed Harris "Glengarry Glen Ross") tries to keep his Empire Grill going, even as the wealthy and powerful Mrs. Whiting(Joanne Woodward "Philadelphia"), makes life difficult for him. If that wasn't enough, Miles has to keep tabs on his scoundrel of a dad, Max (Paul Newman "The Color of Money") who is always looking for trouble. But, Miles has something much bigger than just restaurant receipts and a cantankerous father on his mind-he can't shake the ghosts of his past that keep his fate inevitably connected to Empire Falls.
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Featurette
Description of Empire Falls:
A frame-bursting roster of actors crowds this two-part HBO miniseries, which is nothing less than a look at America through the lens of a small New England town. Richard Russo adapted his own novel, a story of a gently depressed factory town that has always been run by the wealthiest family around (currently lorded over by matriarch Joanne Woodward). Ed Harris plays the central role, a decent, cautious man who runs a local diner and carefully negotiates the political niceties of Empire Falls; Paul Newman is his rapscallion of a father (the son is perpetually picking food out of Dad's beard), Helen Hunt is Harris's ex-wife, Aidan Quinn his feistier brother, and Robin Wright Penn his tragical mother seen in flashbacks.
The goal of Russo and director Fred Schepisi seems to have been fidelity to the novel, which gives the film a pleasingly relaxed pace but also a somewhat literal-minded binding. Even that doesn't explain the general lack of tautness, or why so much of the dialogue has an awkward fit in actors' mouths. Harris and Newman, of course, are younger and older versions of American monuments, and their sheer presence goes a long way toward making the picture work (for the premium Newman-Russo match, see Robert Benton's sublime film of Nobody's Fool). Most of the twists in the final reels are genuinely affecting, and the movie has the courage to end on a mild note rather than strain to tie everything up. It's a fitting finale for an unassuming enterprise. --Robert Horton
Empire Falls Reviews:
Empire Falls 
2009-12-07 - We accidently ended up in Skowheegan, New Hampshire one night last Fall while on a leaf peeping tour. There we ran across the little jewel of a diner, The Empire Grill. The food was great, but its history was even better. We had to buy the book, which was a wonderful read, then ordered the DVD. I thought that the characters in the story were perfectly cast and the acting superb--Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, so no wonder. The movie was true to the story and its setting evoked the sense of the place. In fact, I'm going to read the book again now that I have a mental image of the Russo's characters, the diner, and Empire Falls. What a wonderful story and an excellent movie portrayal.
somebody has to be oppressed? 
2009-09-16 - In a way this movie reminded me of Peyton Place. The acting is very good
and one gets drawn in by the plot.
My only reservation was that I thought the prose was in the end
a little over done and Lake Wobegon Days like.
I think maybe the most original character is the cat
who you begin to think is a familiar to the rich lady oppressor.
I think that it was the high school shooting
that was one series of unfortunate events too far for me.
But overall I enjoyed the movie and even thought hard about
buying the book.
Excellent!
2009-02-06 - The item I received arrived in pristine condition as promised and within a few days of ordering. I am very, very pleased!
As good as the book (and that doesn't happen very often!)
2009-02-02 - An excellent look at a struggling New England mill town and its inhabitants. I thought the acting was amazing by everyone, especially Paul Newman. I watch this a couple of times a year.
Great story!
2009-01-17 - Unlike many film productions made from books, this made for TV movie/miniseries provides a fabulously close rendition. The cast and acting were magnificent!
