NateWatchesCoolMovies The Disppearance Of Eleanor Rigby (nothing to do with the Beatles song except a brief reference by a character) is a thoughtful, exceptionally well made film about a couple dealing with an immense tragedy that has put a weight on their relationship, forcing them to take some time apart. James Macavoy, an actor who continues to impress, and Jessica Chastain, always amazing, play the two with diligent feeling and palpable hurt. Now, there's three different edits of the film. His, which is mostly his side of events following the breakup, where Macavoy takes center stage and we see his life. Hers, which shows us where Chastain ends up, and how she is coping. The third version, Theirs, is a truncated version of both stories, leaving out a lot of key scenes and important beats. His and Hers together come out to about four hours of movie watching, but if you're going to invest yourself in their story, you owe it to you self to watch them both, starting with His. Because there is four hours of their story, they are allowed to develop and interact in a fashion that feels far more genuine and lifelike than a rushed two and a half hour movie. Macavoy is an aspiring cook who runs a small café with his friend and sous chef (Bill Hader, fiercely funny) and yearns for Chastain, angry at life for throwing them the curveball it did. He moves in with his father (Ciaran Hinds gives phenomenal work), a successful restauranteer. Chastain moves in with her folks as well, played by Isabelle Huppert and William Hurt. Hurt, who hasn't been around that much lately, makes up for that by anchoring a key scene with Chastain. It's interesting that he gets to play her father in a film, because they both share a measured, baleful, hypnotic grace in their work, and seeing them interacting was a treat for me, being an immense fan of both their work. Now, the film is more than the sum of its parts, but I mean that in a good way, since the parts themselves are so brilliantly done as well. It's what we expect from the romantic drama Avenue, but because we see an extended fluidity to the work, a narrative free from the fractured conventions of usual editing styles, we feel right there with our two protagonists, every step of the way. More films should break the mold and try to be more than just segmented movies, and use immersion techniques like this to draw us in. Coupled with that unique method of delivery comes a sincere commitment from actors and director alike, to explore an aspect of life and relationships that many see as unpleasant or upsetting, yet can still make for beautiful work. Well worth a watch.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . doesn't make much sense, neither do any of the three versions of THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY (namely, THEM, HER, and this HIM). The third time is NOT always the charm (but HIM rates the best score, as it's much shorter than THEM or HER). If quantity equaled quality, there would be three versions of HEAVEN'S GATE, ISHTAR, and PLUTO NASH, making them hallowed screen classics. The final credits for each of this pretentious RIGBY trio of features list the standard functionaries of "film editor," "script supervisor," and "writer\director." Therefore, what excuse can there be for daring each audience member to slog through five and a half hours (or 325 minutes, to be exact!) of RIGBY raw footage to stitch together an individually unique 75 minutes worth of semi-passable material in the mind's eye? (It's no easier to make a silk purse from three sows' ears--or 325--than it would be to pull off the miracle from just one!) Though it may seem like it from this hash of things, the Rigby cast ain't exactly chopped liver. Finally, while there may be just "50 ways to leave your lover," there's probably more than 100 theories as to how and why Cody died. While Pre-natal Twizzler poisoning and John Lennon's Curse sound tempting to me, my money's on a case of terminal boredom (from being around Conor and Eleanor two whole months, after learning myself what 325 minutes with them does to a person!).

Sergeant_Tibbs It's very odd how much The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her gets right that Him just can't measure up to. I'm not sure whether it's because I watched it second, but it's way more clumsily executed. While it does pay off a lot of things set up in Her (and I imagine it'll work vice versa) when it offers an alternate perspective on a scene, that's its only strength. Where Her approached sappiness with its insights on romance, Him too often breaches that mark. It's a more lightweight film, which comes with its own delights with Bill Hadar and that subplot, but moments which elicited tears in Her revisited here had little effect. I'm sure that's not a case of diminishing returns. McAvoy is reliably great, not quite as good as Chastain in Her, but again he bolsters the material. The problem with this portion of the pair is that it paints Eleanor Rigby in a very unappealing light, one I hadn't even considered with Her. Here, I don't see why he's chasing her so much. Nevertheless, Him is still a very good film for when it does hit the spot, just doesn't match its counterpart.7/10

Joe Jodoin This is the first half of a 2-part movie, starring James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is actually 2 movies, one from the husband's perspective and one from the wife's perspective. I bought a ticket to see this film because it sounded like an interesting concept to see the same movie twice from different perspectives, and I figured I would get 2 movies for the price of one. I thought I knew what I was in for when I went to this movie, but it surprised me in many ways. This review is obviously for the part told from the husband's perspective.The first thing that pleasantly surprised me was the music. The songs accompany the movie perfectly, and add to the emotional depth of the story. The script is also surprisingly funny, and occasionally hilarious. I was not expecting that, but it made both parts of the movie very watchable. I applaud Ned Benson's first feature-length script, and his directing was amazing too. I'm highly anticipating his next project. The acting was also perfect, and very realistic. Both the leads, and the supporting cast (mainly Bill Hader), were the perfect choices for their roles. My main problem with the film, wasn't with this part exactly, but with the 190 minuet length of the two parts combined, although this is counteracted by the emotional depth that can be dug within over 3 hours of its run-time. Also, this isn't a movie that general audiences will like at all. I'm sure that most people will be very bored by this movie and absolutely hate it. If you like indie films though, this is a movie for you. I highly recommend seeing the movie in theaters, because it is so unique and interesting to watch. Another good thing is that this one part alone felt like a full length 2 hour movie (but is was only 95 minuets), so if you only want to watch one part, this part is still worth watching, but it wont have as much meaning as it would if you watched both parts. Overall this film deserves an 8.8/10 star rating, and please go see this movie in theaters next year to support all who were involved in the making of this film.