This is finely crafted and tightly woven storytelling. The story is carefully told through a truly stellar cast and meaningful dialogue. It is a character piece, if you are looking for anything other than drama with subtle humor, you will need to look elsewhere.The characters are complex and full, with intricate ties to each other, and make up a rather odd family. With the introduction of a new person in their world, they can work through past pain and navigate current predicaments to really see what they want from life. This holds true for the new character as well.I thoroughly enjoyed this quiet but powerful story with real and compelling characters.

***SPOILERS***Beautifuly photographed-in living color- but confusing movie about a young graduate student Omar Ragazhi, Omar Matwally,from the University of Colorado being forced by his nagging girlfriend Deirdre Rothemund, Alexandra Maria Lara, to travel down to to Uruguay and get permission from the family of the late writer Jules Gund to write his biography. It turns out that Omar is at a dead end in his life and needs to write the biography of Jules Gund to get his PHD as well as life back together again.Off to Uruguay Omar learns that the Gund family especially his widowed wife Caroline, Laura Linney, want nothing at all to do with him much less give him permission to write or authorize him write Gund's biography. He does get involved with Gund's older brother Adam, Anthony Hopkins, in a smuggling scheme to smuggle out of the country the family jewels that never seems to go anywhere and is later dropped altogether. Instead Omar falls in love with Arden Langdon, Charlotte Gainsbourg, the late Jules Gund's girlfriend who let him in on why he killed himself in that he couldn't come up with a final end his last novel.Allowed to stay at the Gund residence Omar becomes part of the family and even strikes up a friendship with Adam lover as well as 40 year old houseboy Pete, Hiroyuki Sanada, who later saves his life after he was attacked by a swam of killer bees. Hospitalized and near death Omar's girlfriend from the states Deirdre shows up and finds out that he's no longer in love or even interested in her! In that he's found better things in life then her to hook up with. It all comes together in the end when Caroline agrees to let Omar write her husbands Jules' biography only to burns the unfinished manuscript of his last novel which was critical in Omar writing it! P.S The film seem to be going nowhere and ended up on a high note with all involved, who were still around, at some concert at what looked like New York's Carnegie Hall taking in the music and trying to forget what they've been through in the movie and just have a good night out!

The City of Your Final Destination is an excellent, intelligent, adult movie about believable people. The behavior and motivations of the characters are brilliantly presented; totally real people with real emotions and mature concerns. These days we could die waiting for this kind of great movie to come along! The meaning of the word "adult" with reference to movies should be changed to describe this kind of movie rather than the pornography genre that now carries that appellation. What the industry calls "adult" should be changed to "adolescent," a more appropriate term for pornography, so the word "adult" could be freed up to describe movies of this maturity and quality. At least 90% of Hollywood's output is banal commercial junk. But in this movie there are no car chases, barroom brawls, drug addicts, topless bars, shooting and killing, corrupt cops, liars, cheats, con men, muscle men, superheroes, martial arts, gratuitous sex, pretty-faced vapid ingenues trying to pass for professional people such as doctors and scientists, and so on. They even kept the cigarette-smoking to a minimum! But don't mistake my objection to Hollywood as moralistic. I'm talking about intelligence, taste and maturity.

City of Your Final Destination This first solo project from director James Ivory, from what little I saw of the film it promises to deliver.True to form Ivory makes the most of exotic locations and an a stellar international cast.The incomparable Anthony Hopkins rarely disappoints and in this role he more than exceeds any expectation.Laura Linney plays her role of the tightly wound widow to perfection while Charlotte Gainsbourg is splendid as the vulnerable mistress.Omar Metwally, the biographer, and Alexandra Maria Lara, his overly ambitious girlfriend, are superb.The dialogue is written by Ruth Prawler Jhabvala has captured the essence of Peter Cameron's novel of the same name.