Wow. This film was so good. There is some profanity which I usually steer away from, but it was not gratuitous, it was strategic. Sandra pulled off this gritty but human character with perfection imo and all the supporting cast was excellent. It felt real. I have not teared up / cried watching a movie for some time. This one got me in a couple of spots for unexpected reasons.
Very well written and edited. Would love to see something else by the same writers and producers.
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A couple of things struck me about this film -- seeing how rough it really is for people when they get out...the circumstances they live in, how it feels to be judged and looked down upon....seeing some tough, messy jobs that they (and other people) have to do that I really don't think about on a day to day basis.
I also found myself at times facing my own cynicism and distrust when people were nice to Sandra's character, but other times my optimism and sympathy kicked in when people were mean to her.
They did a really good job of making her a real person who was sympathetic without making excuses for her or making her cookie-cutter ex-con. If one day I can write like this.... *sighs in admiration *
*** Fangirl Note ***
I fell in love w/ Sandra Bullock from "While You Were Sleeping" and after that enjoyed her in other movies where she was unassuming, goofy, lighthearted, etc. but after awhile I thought, 'she's always kind of not serious/wimpy...I'd like to see her do something different.' I know she did the movie about the art/jewelry heist, but 1. I don't like movies where the bad guys are the protagonists* and 2. she just didn't come off as hard/tough enough or believable in it to me. Just didn't feel right to me.
In this one, however, I forgot I was watching Sandra Bullock. I just saw the character. That's true mastery, there. Only at the end was I like...."Sandra, you go girl!" :-)
***In case you find it contradictory that I like this movie, but I said I don't like when bad guys are the protagonists I mean bad guys who purposely do something wrong simply because they enjoy it or for their own gain and who either are portrayed as cool for doing so or never change or get what they deserve, yet they are held out as the character we are supposed to be rooting for in the show.