This film reminds me of why I generally don't like ensemble movies. You have to be able to invest in each of the subplots, or you get bored. Now, once in a while I luck out and stumble into an ensemble film that I can buy into, but not often.Here, I couldn't get interested in all of the subplots. Not that there was anything wrong with any of the stories, but they all just didn't interest me.We start with Bradley (Greg Kinnear) who gets dumped by his lesbian wife and begins a relationship with a real estate agent. Okay, I bought into this subplot.Then there's Oscar and Chloe. He's a formed druggie. They do a porn film to make money. Sorry, just couldn't get into it. Nothing wrong with the story. Just didn't interest me.And then there's Morgan Freeman's mixed marriage with Jane Alexander. I found this part of the film very interesting.But, that means a third of the film didn't interest me.So, my only warning here is to be sure you like ensemble stories.

The book was set in Ann Arbor (Michigan), home of the University Of Michigan and much of the 60's counterculture. The movie was shot and set in Portland. Changing the setting in a story like this is like taking a story set in 1920's New York City and changing it to modern day L.A. This was done because Hollywood film execs don't even know anything exists between New York and L.A. They cast women as men, Frenchmen as Scots, and only rarely do they get history right. If you are from another country or another planet, details like this may not matter to you. If you think things like places and people matter, you may find fault with this film.

I suppose some people cannot relate to a movie with no explosions or car chases, so they will not like this one. There were some good performances, but the film is not flawless. The first "love-feast" in the film just sort of drops off the radar screen, after making one wish to know more about how that relationship went. And Morgan Freeman is sort of getting typecast in the old sage role, but at his age, and with that voice, it might be inevitable. While I might not have cared a lot for Alexa Davalos' character, she played it well, and looked great doing it. Same for Radha Mitchell. The film, along with Freeman, muses a lot about the nature of love. If you can stand this type of film it is well worth checking out.

OK, let me just start off by saying that if you aren't 15 and madly in love or in a mid-life crisis, this movie will seem extremely extremely cheesy...By cheesy, I mean "I wanted to feel in my body as much pain as I feel in my heart" (get over yourself)... and the actor is meant to say this without laughing. Seriously though i found some parts of the dialog excruciating. As well, who talks about their recently turned lesbian ex-wife to a complete stranger? Also the story itself seems to have been written by either a 15 year old or a midlife criser. It's just so cliché... the young couple with a tragic end, the alcoholic father, the cutely naive 40 year old who gets his heart stomped on over and over again, and above all, the wise old black man. I think it's about time for Morgan Freeman to find other parts to play... It's also cliché in that everyone falls in love at first sight, somehow confusing lust for love.The acting was overall OK, though sometimes Kinnear makes you raise an eyebrow. Truly, I think the producers noticed the movie wouldn't have cut it, so they decided to throw in a few naked chicks and I guess it works, I mean i stayed till the end. The only reason i stayed though was for Alexa Davalos (bom chicka wah wah).This could have been a really really good soap opera.