Main Street (2010)

People are voting emotionally.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I was waiting for some kind of clever liberal message, as I do with almost everything I watch these days. I didn't really detect one. It's about an Operations Manager for a Hazardous Waste disposal company. I don't know why the guy would have to travel all the way to Durham, NC for a warehouse and ultimately a processing center, but I guess there is only so much room in his home state of Texas. You probably know the story. This guy sets up these waste disposal centers in cities that could use the work and the revenue. He encounters some locals who then encounter each other.As other reviewers have pointed out, Durham is not a small dying city. It has a couple hundred thousand people and is part of a thriving region. But this picture could have been set at an earlier time. There are no computers or smart phones, so maybe it is supposed to be earlier than 2010, although there is no indication of that.Anyways, it is not about any of this. It's about hope, transition, renewal, and fear. Most importantly, it's about ordinary people. Having said that, these actors did an excellent job with the material. I too don't understand why they need to give the work to two Brits, but they did well.As other reviewers have mentioned, you keep waiting for the Colin Firth character to turn into a slime, but he doesn't. He is genuine. The best part is when the young woman calls her ex-boyfriend a "loser" for staying in town and accepting a potentially humble life. You could see that a part of her meant it, and that he was deeply hurt, but also that she didn't really want to hurt anyone, and didn't fully believe what she said.I loved the way they portrayed the ex high school sweethearts. Faced with the girl leaving town, the guy tells her straight out that he loves her and always has. That's what you have to do. Stake your claim. She reciprocated.Ellen Burstyn could have easily relied on clichés, but she didn't. Her facial expressions and reactions set her performance apart from that. I don't get the ending. I won't give it away, but it seems like the guy is admitting that he was never comfortable doing what he does to begin with. He fooled me.What a bizarre concept for a movie. That's why I like it. Because there is potential intrigue in the most mundane of circumstances. The main character mentions that a city's fate is dependent on how its' residents look at it. The same thing goes for a movie plot. You can turn a seemingly boring circumstance into something compelling with good writing, settings, and performances. They did that adequately here.

I expected so much from this talented group of people. This movie blew up in my face like hazardous waste. Pun intended. Honestly, I couldn't find the strength within me to suffer this horrible film. I skipped a couple parts and didn't miss anything. One: Orlando Bloom attempted a southern accent. Please. Two: This old lady creeped me out. Three: This hazardous waste guy and a different older lady fell in love. Ew. Four: They all had southern accents. Which was sorta annoying. I watched most of this movie and can't even tell you what the plot is. The production was average at best, the plot was... (Wait... There was a plot?), and it sorta jumped all over the place with no clear purpose. This movie was a waste of time on all counts.

Definitely the worst movie of the year so far. People still get paid for this garbage!? Further proof that the movie industry is nothing more than a joke at this point. How and why does the United States of America continue to allow people to make money for pathetic trash such as this!?!? These actors aren't very good, I've seen Amber Tamblin is several other movies, none of which were very good at all. Ellen Burstyn, come on lady what are you like 90? Just die already... Colin Firth, certainly the most overrated actor of this generation. Nice moustache on Orlando Bloom too (haha, when will that bum give himself a clean shave?) Truly horrendous film, not sure if any of these actors or even the film industry as a whole will be able to recover from this one.

Durham is a small rural town in North Carolina that is slowly dying. Its once prosperous main street in now but a mere shadow of itself, and businesses are closing down. Symbolic of the town's faded glory is Georgina Carr (Ellen Burstyn), who lives alone in the family house. Her family fortune was founded on the tobacco industry during the 20th century, but now she has fallen on hard times. The family home is now far too big for her, and she is struggling to maintain payments. Salvation seemingly comes in the form of Gus Leroy (Colin Firth), the smooth talking representative of a Texas firm that specialises in handling and storing hazardous waste materials. Gus manages to gain a lease on Carr's vacant warehouse by promising that his business will help turn the town's fortunes around. We also meet a number of the town's other residents who are affected by the downturn in prosperity and are eager to leave to find employment and excitement elsewhere. Harris Parker (Orlando Bloom) is a local policeman who is studying law at night school in a futile effort to please Mary (Amber Tamblyn), his high school sweetheart. But she has made the mistake of falling for the smooth charms of her boss (Andrew McCarthy) at the law firm where she works. And Georgina's headstrong niece Willa (Patricia Clarkson) helps her aunt in the negotiations with Gus regarding breaking the firm's contract. Willa herself left town, but has returned following her divorce. Leroy finds himself slowly involved in the town's daily business, which eventually pricks his own conscience about the nature of his company's business. Main Street is the final script written by Pulitzer Prize and Oscar winning playwright, the late Horton Foote (To Kill A Mockingbird, Tender Mercies, etc), and it offers a eulogy to small town America, which is slowly dying in the severe economic downturn. While it nicely captures the rhythm of small town life, it is also part of the film's major failing, in that we never really get to identify with the characters or sympathise with them. There is some evocative cinematography from Australian Donald McAlpine. This is the first feature film from John Doyle, who is better known for his theatre work on Broadway. His direction is measured, but he seems unable to effectively draw the various subplots together. He draws some nice performances from his solid cast, in particular, Burstyn who is effective as the wilting Southern belle, and Clarkson is also very good as Willa. However Firth seems miscast and struggles to acquire a convincing Texan accent.