SnoopyStyle It's Empire Falls, Maine by the Knox River. Miles Roby (Ed Harris) runs the diner owned by Francine Whiting (Joanne Woodward). The Whitings own everything worth owning in the town. They have sold the industrial jobs and taken the cash. Francine is a cunning woman married into the family. Miles hopes to get the diner in her will. His father Max (Paul Newman) is a blunt man always looking for a handout. In flashbacks, his mother (Robin Wright Penn) tells him his father is in jail. His daughter Tick (Danielle Panabaker) broke up with her bully boyfriend who picks on loner John Voss (Lou Taylor Pucci). His brother David (Aidan Quinn) grows marijuana. He's interested in waitress Charlene (Theresa Russell). His ex-wife Janine (Helen Hunt) is selfish and thin. Her boyfriend Walt Comeau (Dennis Farina) owns the fitness club.The acting is great and it's populated by great actors. The characters are specific. Newman is the flashy one but I love Ed Harris most of all. He's put upon by everyone but holds it in reserve. There are a lot of characters which could be a problem for some people. One has allow each of these characters their due. It's a terrific TV mini-series.

Cory A Morrant Its pretty obvious that the author wrote the screenplay here... given that his pontificating prose makes the transition to the film as voice-over narration. Come to think of it... I didn't see a credit for the narrator, and I didn't recognize the goofy voice either... I wonder if this guy could possibly be THAT self-indulgent.Anyway, this movie is OK. I'd say about half the scenes are good and half are bad. It's pretty inconsistent in its level of phony-ness.It is overall an interesting and engaging story, but I think it is greatly hindered by the cheap crutch of a purely evil character.Hoffman and Robin Wright Penn were both really good in the flash backs. William Fichtner struck me as the only guy who carried his weight in the modern scenes. Dennis Farina was good, but it was a one note job.The glove box and the cat were painful.I have to say, my jaw about hit the floor when a lowered newspaper revealed Josh Lucas in a cameo as a young Paul Newman... it was a brief but unbelievable scene.

dentonsfarm I must admit that I had never watched the HBO mini-series when it aired. As a matter of fact I was just looking at the DVD selection in Wal-Mart one day and saw that the cover and description looked appealing, so I purchased it. What can I say, the characters were very strong, the cinematography, and direction was great, and the story was excellent. I can't help but love films that have you guessing every minute, and once you think you have things figured out they through a whammy on you. The all-star cast was wonderful. Ed Harris, Paul Newman,... They each added the familiar faces that make you feel as though you yourself lived in this town of Empire Falls, a town of beauty, laughter, and secrets.

danielkaffee The storyline is obviously excellent, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book. The cast is comprised of some fantastic actors (Ed Harris, Paul Newman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, etc.). However, despite a previous poster's message that the film captures "Maine and Mainers," is not entirely true. Unfortunately, it's just another movie where the actors throw in the occasional Maine dialect attempt. Using words like Cah instead of Car, doesn't constitute a successful impersonation of a Mainer. I am from Kennebunkport, Maine, where a few of Ed Harris's childhood scenes were filmed. Not all of us have accents. And those who do, have something rather unique. Helen Hunt's portrayal of a Mainer was not very good at all. It takes a very good actor/actress to make a movie viewer forget that they're acting. This is one of those movies where, as a Mainer myself, I ended up critiquing the acting/accents and never became engrossed in the story. Chalk this up to just another Mystic River, Spitfire Grill, or characters like Cliff Claven on Cheers. It may be funny for the rest of the country, but people in New England can spot the poor attempt to nail the accent. The only movie where the accents were authentic was Good Will Hunting. But that was because Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck are from New England. And even in that movie, Oscar winning Robin Williams' accent was less than stellar. The movie is good, but not nearly as good as previous posts have indicated.