merelyaninnuendo The Virgin SuicidesIt takes guts to pull off such a risky project and not because it is way too dark that it is almost inedible but the makers still keep it light and breezy on the rest of the journey which doesn't come often and shows a sign of greater talent. Sofia Coppola is no short on execution but it rarely factors in or is noticeable for there is too much to work on the plotline. Her adaptation from Jeffrey Euginides' novel isn't smart but still the tone is kept alive that is palpable for the characters that resides in this symmetric world. There isn't much to admire on performance as the cast has done a decent job where Kirsten Dunst and Kathleen Turner may stand out. The Virgin Suicides is a plot driven feature that is so focused on the advancement and the pace of it that the supporting characters may feel a bit undercooked or lack opportunity to factor in, that results into a smaller space for the audience to breathe in.

Peter Welch I expected "The Virgin Suicides" to be a heart-wrenching study of five repressed and abused girls who commit suicide. Instead, I got a movie that was... empty, more than anything.Right off the bat it is established that the five sisters of the Lisbon family, aged 13-17 have killed themselves. We hear this from the narrator, a boy who lives across the street from the sisters. His voice-over is retrospective, and it implies that many years have passed since the events of the movie. The movie covers roughly a year leading up to the suicides, and all of the events that transpire in that time (spoiler alert: not much happens)."Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy. If you read or watch the play, you see the two main characters live their lives and you understand how they are led to suicide. In the play, all the characters are fleshed out and have clear motivations behind their actions. "The Virgin Suicides" is like Romeo and Juliet told from the perspective of Balthasar, Romeo's servant. We don't get the whole picture. In fact, we don't really get any picture at all. All of the sudden, the teenage kids are dead, and we don't know why.Why did the girls do it? The parents don't seem to be abusive. A little strict, sure, but no reason to kill oneself. We get quick glimpses into the mother's supposed cruelty, but she's really not that bad- as far as the viewer can see. The most memorable line in the movie comes from the youngest sister, when she goes to therapy. The doctor asks her why she has attempted suicide, saying he sees no great struggle in her life. The girl responds by saying "clearly doctor, you've never been a teenage girl." This is the closest thing we get to a reason that these girls kill themselves, and it's pretty flimsy and uncompelling.There's nothing wrong with this movie technically. The acting is fine, the writing is good, and the sets look like they are from the 1970s. The soundtrack is pretty good, and I'd say that Coppola has a nice directing style in the movie.There isn't enough substance in this movie for me to recommend it. The credits rolled and I felt like I had missed the whole thing.

Irishchatter This film is such a tearjerker and gives you a whole amount of fear for these girls because their parents were such religious control freaks. It was really awful to see the sisters die one by one especially Kirsten Dunst's character Lux Lisbon.Now at the beginning, I thought the parents were just ordinary folk wanting for the daughters to do well in school. However as the movie goes on, you would really be more scared for the girls sake. I say the father and mother beat them up too as well as burning some of their stuff.Lets just say, I'm glad this is a fiction movie!

Harry Waterman An extremely hard novel to adapt to the big screen, from one of my favourite novelists Jeffrey Euginides comes the directorial debut of Sofia Coppola who would go on to direct the award-laden Lost In Translation. Kirsten Dunst plays the role very well and the performances given from the parents of the five elusive Lisbon sisters, Kathleen Turner and James Woods were very impressive. The film cleverly mirrors the pungent adolescent anxieties and dark trails of obsession that are laced throughout the novel, however the film is less visceral and more Hollywood than would've been preferred, Sofia polished most of the feeling out of the film, however the story and style forgive all the film's flaws.