Evening
for some thematic elements, sexual material, a brief accident scene and language.
Reviewed by: Maggie Hays
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults Teens |
| Genre: | Romance Drama Adaptation |
| Length: | 1 hr. 57 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2007 |
| USA Release: |
June 29, 2007 (limited) |
What is true love and how do you know when you have found it? Answer
Eternal life—What does the Bible say about it? Answer
How can I deal with temptations? Answer
Should I save sex for marriage? Answer
How far is too far? What are the guidelines for dating relationships? Answer
What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer
What’s wrong with being gay? Answer
Homosexual behavior versus the Bible: Are people born gay? Does homosexuality harm anyone? Is it anyone’s business? Are homosexual and heterosexual relationships equally valid?
What about gays needs to change? Answer
It may not be what you think.
Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality
For a follower of Christ, what is LOVE—a feeling, an emotion, or an action?
What is true love and how do you know when you have found it?
Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Christian answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more. Valuable resources for Christian couples, singles and pastors.
What advice do you have for new and growing Christians? Answer
Biblical women with admirable character, include: Mrs. Noah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther, Deborah, and Milcah, daugher of Zelophehad.
| Featuring |
Claire Danes Toni Collette Vanessa Redgrave Patrick Wilson Hugh Dancy Glenn Close Meryl Streep Natasha Richardson Dame Eileen Atkins Mamie Gummer Ebon Moss-Bachrach |
| Director |
Lajos Koltai |
| Producer | Susan Minot, Michael Cunningham, Michael Hogan |
| Distributor |
 Focus Features, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal/Comcast |
“Her greatest secret was her greatest gift.”
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “A stellar cast unites for a drama adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham from the best-selling novel by Susan Minot. The film explores the romantic past and emotional present of Ann Grant (Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave) and her daughters, Constance (Tony Award winner Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Academy Award nominee Toni Collette). As Ann lays dying, she remembers, and is moved to convey to her daughters, the defining moments in her life 50 years prior, when she was a young woman (played by Golden Globe Award winner Claire Danes). Emmy Award nominee Patrick Wilson plays Harris, the man Ann loves in the 1950s and never forgets.”
This film is a well-made story of a dying mother’s memories, and her two daughters who try to figure out if their mother is hallucinating due to her pain meds, or if the people and events she speaks of are real. The star-power in this movie is amazing, with names like Streep, Redgrave, and Close. I’ll be honest with you, I would not ordinarily go to a “chick flick” movie like this, but I went for the sake of this review. So, here are the honest facts—
The bad things about “EVENING”:
- There is a F-word early on.
- The Lord’s name is profaned several times.
- There is lots of drinking and drunkenness.
- The two daughters of the dying woman seem to spend the first 2/3 of the story hatefully bickering with one another.
- Several instances of passionate kissing between unmarried partners occurs.
- Implied homosexuality of one main character, who kisses another man onscreen.
- Rear view male nudity during a swimming sequence.
- An unmarried woman reveals she is pregnant and wonders if she should bring the baby into the world.
- An unmarried couple sleep together.
- A woman lies dying and not one mention of prayer is made, or reference to anything spiritual.
So, as you can see, this is not a movie for children. I believe children would find this story boring and slow. It is told in flashbacks, as the dying woman remembers back to the '50s and her first love.
Despite all of the above, and admitting my own conservatism and Biblical worldview, I will also admit that I loved this movie. It is a story for adults. The scenery is beautiful, as is the soundtrack. I think every woman who is a mother or a sister may enjoy this film, though you have been cautioned above to the black marks against it. My husband, an evangelical preacher, attended with me and didn’t think this was just a chick flick. He said it was well-made and on a scale of 1-10 he would give it an 8.
Due to the above-mentioned negatives, I feel I should not recommend this movie for the Christian, but I do admit that I, personally, enjoyed it and found the story gripping, while my attention never wavered. I would say it’s hard to beat a Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave combination when you’ve got an interesting story to tell.
Violence: None / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Mild
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Better than Average / 5
Offensive / 3
Average / 1½
I love those two in that ad about the “Boyfriend’s Trousers,” so it was really great to see them in a movie together. They definitely have good chemistry. But then so did everyone in the cast—whoever did the casting was brilliant. Can’t wait to read the book now.
My Ratings: Better than Average / 5