Chick flick
New drama ‘Amati Girlsi
shows bond between mother and four sisters
The Amati Girls
** 1/2 (out of five stars)
Rated: PG
Starring: Paul Sorvino, Mercedes Ruehl,
Sean Young
Providence Entertainment
By Geronimo Rodriguez
Daily Cougar Staff
Anne DeSalvois The Amati Girls is
an intimate story of four women and their widowed mother who begin to question
their roles in life.
As the women are placed in different situations
and eventually learn the difference between compromising and giving up,
they realize what they really want in life. The events they face also test
their strength and belief in each other.
DeSalvo, who both wrote and directed the
film, shows her potential in The Amati Girls. She daringly attempts
to highlight these womenis struggles and at the same time undermine the
importance of the men with whom they share their lives. While the men are
portrayed as causing the problems in the situations, DeSalvo does not want
the men to be credited with overpowering the women.
Instead, DeSalvo creates strong women whose
lives are the way they are because they have made their own decisions in
their relationships.
Courtesy of Providence Entertainment
Starring Lily Knight (left), Sean Young,
Mercedes Ruehl, and Dinah Manoff (right), The Amati Girls focuses
on the bonds between a widowed mother and her four daughters.
The Amati Girls is truly a womanis
film. This is not to say that men will not be entertained by this film,
but that the male characters are consistently portrayed as mere pawns.
Throughout the movie, men are shown as
selfish and hapless; they appear to have no clue as to what their counterparts
are going through until it is explained to them. The only way that men
contribute to the film is in the form of comedy, as DeSalvo places them
in both awkward and "typical" male situations.
This film may draw some comparisons to
the ultimate womenis film, Steel Magnolias, in which strong women
must rely on each other to find themselves. However, although some situations
are quite similar to those in Steel Magnolias, The Amati Girls is
not as compelling as the earlier drama.
As for the acting in The Amati Girls,
both Mercedes Ruehl (Big) and Cloris Leachman (Hanging Up) deliver
superb performances. Some of the acting by other cast members does not
play out as well, but there is more good acting than bad in the film.
The Amati Girls does fairly well
overall because DeSalvois story follows mostly realistic situations and
her directing effort captures touching scenes. DeSalvo capably maintains
control of the filmis tone throughout by weaving upbeat humor in and out
of the dramatic scenes. Moviegoers will find both family drama and comedy
in this new film.
The Amati Girls also stars Lee Grant
(Shampoo), Dinah Manoff (Grease), Mark Harmon (Summer
School), Sean Young (Blade Runner), Jamey Sheridan (The Ice
Storm), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), and Lily Knight (An Unremarkable
Life).
