Toronto: Natalie Portman's 'Impossible Pursuits' becomes Friday's festival misfire
Don Roos' latest can't overcome unlikeable characters and not enough laughs
Natalie Portman in "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits."
Writer/Director Don Roos is a really funny guy. And he's pretty talented too. His breakout flick "The Opposite of Sex" has grown in stature as one of the quintessential indie movies of the late 1990s. Unfortunately, he's never really duplicated the magic of the dark comedy that helped convince Hollywood Christina Ricci had real sex appeal. His latest film, "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits," debuted today at the Toronto International Film Festival for press and industry and to say it's a disappointment is an understatement.
Adapted from a novel by Ayelet Waldman, "Impossible" centers on a young New York city legal associate Emilia (Portman) and Roos has done pretty much, um, the impossible with her. He's taken a young woman who has lost her baby only months before and made her completely unlikeable and unsympathetic. The first 20 minutes or so finds Emilia bickering and insulting her 8-year-old stepson Jack (an OK Charlie Tahan) while flashbacks reveal she systematically seduced his father, a senior lawyer at her firm who also happened to be married at the time. She pretty much treats everyone like [expletive] that you don't understand why even her "best friends" (an underused Anthony Rapp and Lauren Ambrose) are in the picture at all. "Impossible" also follows a number of storylines (including an unnecessary plot device of having Emilia's father having cheated on her mother) whose sole point seems to be to show just how caring, screwed up and unappealing Portman's character is. So, when you get to the pivotal scene where Emilia has a revelation on the fate of her deceased daughter, you don't really care. It's almost pointless and the tacked on happy ending feels like an afterthought.
Part of the problem is that like Roos' grating romantic drama "Bounce," "Impossible" suffers from trying to have too much of a glossy, commercial sheen on the proceedings. His underrated "Happy Endings" allowed him to rebound from "Bounce" because it was precisely less stereotypically Hollywood. The filmmaker clearly wants to be serious but have his cake and eat it to by incorporating the writer's trademark snarky one-liners. It completely disrupts the tone and turns too many of the characters, such as Charlie's mother Carolyne (played by Lisa "I've done this bitchy role way too many times before" Kudrow) into caricatures. Portman was obviously intrigued by the dramatic arc of her character -- she's an executive producer on the project -- but everyone involved failed to realize how difficult it would be for any actress to pull it off. Even someone as talented as Portman.
It's hard to imagine mini-major such as Fox Searchlight, Miramax or Focus acquiring "Impossible," but the independent production may get a deal with a Magnolia or IFC willing to use Portman's star power on a VOD deal.
For constant updates on awards season and entertainment news follow Gregory Ellwood on Twitter at Twitter.com/HitFixGregory
Needless to say, "Impossible Pursuit" indeed.
News From Our Partners
-
'Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Exclusive Clip Premieres
'Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Trailer To Debut Before 'Hunger Games'
'The Vow': The Reviews Are In!
-
TV ratings: 'Grimm' and 'Shark Tank' rise, CBS stays on top Friday
'The Vampire Diaries' recap: In which Elena is starting to get on our nerves
John Goodman, Roseanne Barr reunite in NBC pilot 'Downwardly Mobile'
-
Weekly Ketchup: Naomi Watts to play Princess Di
Critics Consensus: Journey 2 Isn't Quite Worth the Trip
Total Recall: Luis Guzman's Best Movies
-
'Requiem For A Dream' Clip Recreates Darren Aronofsky's Film With Puppets
Russell Crowe Up For Dracula Tale 'Harker'?
'The Boys,' 'Mortal Instruments' Dropped By Studios
-
Interview: Woody Harrelson
Podmass: Week of Feb. 2-8
For Our Consideration: The Grammys are worth watching (seriously)
-
The Telefile - Today's TWoP News: Friday, February 10, 2012
The Telefile - The Most Heinous Person on Reality TV This Week
The Telefile - TWoP 10: Ways We'd Like to See House End
-
Is Whitney Houston Joining 'The X Factor'?
Laura Prudom: 'Supernatural' Recap: Sam Faces His Fears In 'Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie'
Laura Prudom: 'Nikita' Recap: Nikita's Past Comes Back To Haunt Her In 'Rogue'
About This Blog
With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios, launched the Hollywood Hitlist on MSN Movies and revamped The Envelope for the 07-08 season. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing on the basketball court. And even at his advanced age, can still hit a clutch 3 and keep up with those youngin's on the defensive end.
Get Instant Alerts on Awards Campaign
Latest Posts
-
Plus: Flight of the Conchords Touring newsFriday, Feb 10, 2012
-
Updated: 'Moneyball' and 'Hugo' are still out there tooThursday, Feb 9, 2012
-
Which of the best actor nominees would let go of the Oscar first?Wednesday, Feb 8, 2012
-
A strikingly melancholy conversation with the independent film iconTuesday, Feb 7, 2012

Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupPMCL Have difficulty accepting this review. The film received a standing ovation at the gala premiere at TIFF last night - which is not automatic, even with polite Canadian audiences. You have skipped over the fact that Portman, Kudrow and Charlie Tahan were all absolutely brilliant and that ultimately, that drives the film. Roos directing is also very good. Many, many, many films are much more flawed and succeed quite well. I predict much better audience acceptance than this review would suggest.
September 17, 2009 at 8:48AM EST Reply to Comment
Standing ovations at the Toronto Film Festival are way more common than at others. The audiences are not just polite, they are incredibly forgiving. One reason filmmakers feel so safe in bringing their pictures there.
September 17, 2009 at 12:15PM ESTTIFF obsessed I was at the film and yes, the movie did receive a warm response. I disagree with much of the reviewer's opinion. The performances were steller, particularly by Portman and Kudrow, and the "unnecessary plot device" added another layer to Portman's sad and complicated character. Don Roos was able to take a difficult topic and present it in a sensitive way.
September 18, 2009 at 2:16PM EST Reply to CommentNot Don Reviewer completely misses the point. Google the far more sophisticated review in Variety to get a true sense of what the film's about.
September 26, 2009 at 9:14PM EST Reply to CommentBarbara Wycke
April 13, 2010 at 2:49PM EST Reply to CommentThis reviewer obviously did not read the book!
I read it this weekend and sounds like Roos nailed it.
There were no unnecessary plot devices.
A bit of advice read the "BOOK".