The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

i watched the movie yesterday, the story was okay, but i really didn't understand why the father had kissed his son's girl friend, it sounded crazy, sick, and unhealthy, in some point. being drunk was just an excuse? so when the father was drunk again and dancing with the girl friend, it was a kind of reunion and everything bad seemed to be passing away from the memories. but when the son was trying to cut in, his father was a kind of crazy AGAIN, therefore the son got really mad and pushed off his father and made him fall down to the floor. although the father did some ridiculous things, he had never explained that, for example, he could say sorry, and i got really drunk blah, blah, but no, nothing. it was sad part of the movie. and the son was totally right, the father would probably do something crazy again this time, and before all the eyes. so he left the day after with his girl friend, the father called "warren" and then hid behind the curtain, his son, heard him and turned back reluctantly [?], anyway, that was the end of the movie, it was something that the director did not make clear to me.

A heavily dysfunctional family gets together for Thanksgiving. We see their interactions and their inability to connect with each other.Very quiet and somber with touches of humor. This is a slow, moody film. Some people will love this, others will hate it. I personally wasn't too thrilled (I found it much too slow and quite a few people left the screening I attended) but I can see why some people like this. It has a great cast and is very well-acted and written. The direction seems a little off though. So, if you're into a quiet, moody study of a family--this is for you. Also it is interesting to watch now for the cast--some of them were unknown when this came out and have gone on to bigger and better things. There are two great sequences:The children's' reactions when their parents start to tell them about their sex life and, at one point, one woman sees a huge spider who is killed by her boyfriend. She says, "That was a huge spider! It would have whomped Charlotte's ass!" That line had me giggling for 10 minutes and has never left me--and I saw the film back in 1997!

After all the attention this film received at Sundance, the eventual release was disappointing. The writing was unfocused. There were too many characters to portray effectively. Perhaps a small family would have served the story better. The editing was also sloppy, although that may be due to the poor writing. Scenes cut away at their apex, leaving no resolution to them and when threads picked up again, it was hardly from where they left off. Some of the emotional arcs jumped from one transition to another without explanation. Performances save the day, but not enough to recommend or make this one a keeper.

The story (if any) is going nowhere. It's just a bunch of people doing stuff, but nothing worthwhile mentioning, let alone make a movie of it. Don't bother watching this. I read some other comments of people who claimed to be really touched by this story because it reminded them of their own thanksgivings. Well... Djeez, am I glad i was never invited to a thanksgiving party at their place; I would have probably fallen asleep right then and there out of plain boredom. embarrassing when that happens :)