Claire in Motion (2016) Reviews

• Claire Without Emotion

  iieeef2017-03-21

  FILM: Claire in Motion DIRECTORS: Annie J. Howell, Lisa Robinson RATING: 3/10 This film follows Claire and her son in the month after Claire's husband goes missing. Judging from the performance by lead actress Betsy Brandt though, you'd believe Claire never actually met the man as she has so little invested in his disappearance. With its deadly pace and quiet landscape, this film never quite picks up enough steam to level a feeling of honesty about the missing, and possibly dead, husband. Instead the co-writing, co-directing team get so distracted with a relatively uninteresting wife/mistress rivalry between Claire and her husband's colleague, that this turns into another story of an emotionally unavailable wife pitted against a younger woman who feels herself a bit too much. The husband's disappearance, it ultimately seems, is an absurd catalyst for a cliché set of circumstances. Deemed so unimportant by the writers in fact (SPOILER ALERT), the husband's disappearance is never even solved. With an underwhelming emotional landscape and a maddeningly unsatisfying ending, this film manages to bring very little to the table.

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• Beguilingly good movie

  sonztwin2018-01-22

  Do not ignore the hyperbolic "If you can think of THE worst movie imaginable as a mole hill, this is Mt. Everest" - cuz, you know what, for some folks this really isn't "a good movie". But with all due respect, I think those looking for resolution are really missing the point. No, this is not so much a 'mystery' as it is a study of human nature and, well, life itself. Sometimes we ARE left without answers (although, in this case, it's pretty clear to me that Paul likely disappeared to start a new life, leaving a LOT of loose ends behind). What I find really astonishing is that this was written and directed by two WOMEN! Reason? The sentiment of I don't feel like I'm appreciated, let alone loved, was what Paul felt, and he's a guy! Now, of course, they could just be flipping the husband/wife thing around, and perhaps a WOMAN disappearing would be perhaps less believable unless her safety or that of her children are at stake. I can honestly say that there have been times when I feel like pulling a stunt like that. We know that he didn't cheat on his wife - that'd be too cliched. But if I have to find fault with the plot, it is the failure to fully establish Paul's desire to disappear like that - that little video clip where he says she's not looking at him doesn't carry with it that broad a shoulder. Still, I enjoyed this as a thought-provoking movie, and I'd watch a thousand of these, flaws and all, over watching some mindless special-effect, 'clever dialogue' crap that Hollywood is habitually churning out of its butt hole on a regular basis - those and the 'sequels' and remakes. GAG!

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• One of the worst films I've ever seen

  george-napper2017-02-08

  First off, the reason so many people hate this movie isn't because it doesn't end with a neat little bow, whatever that means. It's because nobody in this movie acts like a real person. Claire, the main character leaves her middle school or late-elementary school aged son by himself 80% of the time after her husband, his father has disappeared. Did she ever once think that he might just run away? I mean, that'd be pretty emotionally distressing, right? But thank God the script dictates that he doesn't run away, so it's fine. The girl who can laughingly be called the antagonist is a complete cliché. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the young mistress type in a movie or television show. They always have one distinguishing characteristic, but she's got two - and both are stupid. One is that she's an art student. Her "art" is literally light fixtures that look like they were bought at Pottery Barn, and piles of sticks. Her other distinguishing characteristic is that she thinks she knows what's best for Claire and her husband - yet another motivational cliché typical of awful writing. I saw "Rings" the other day, and I have to say, the only thing "Claire in Motion" has over "Rings" is that its lead actress gives a slightly better performance. Slightly. When you're worse than "Rings," you're one of the worst films ever made. I think that's my new bar. There's "Rings," and then there's "Claire in Motion," and then... I'm not sure how you can get worse than that. Maybe "After Last Season" is technically worse, but not by much.

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• the people that made this owe me 1.5 hours off life

  grino72017-01-14

  do not watch this film. I wish there was a way of given it no stars because if there ever was a zero star film this is it. It starts off slow and keeps going until the end when nothing happens. Got to be the worst film ever made, and I have watched some poor films in my time but this stands head and shoulders above them all. Just think of the worst film you have ever watched that is like a mole hill this is mount Everest that will be the gap between them. This the first time I have reviewed a film. But I feel I had to write something so if only one person reads this and does not watch it I have done my good deed for the year. The plot was so poor and the directing that it was so hard to write 10 lines about this film.

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• If you think it didn't have an ending, you're watching the wrong story

  kay_rock2018-05-09

  If you are watching this movie hoping it is a mystery about what happened to the missing husband, you will be disappointed. But you must shift your perspective. The missing husband is merely a catalyst. The movie is, in fact, about a mathematician who is forced to confront the inexplicable. She is forced to operate within a life equation for which there is no solution. She is also forced to confront emotions which she struggles to keep in careful control. What happens to her when she can't fit everything into a careful box? What happens when she realizes she was missing a lot of information about her carefully constructed world? How does she respond? If you watch THAT story, there is a very complete arc with a very satisfying ending.

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