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The Greatest

2009

Shana Feste

Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons ...

5.6

3,506

Drama A drama that is centered around a troubled teenage girl and a family that is trying to get over the loss of their son. The death of their teenage son, Bennett, in a car crash is almost too much for the Brewer family to bear, not just because his was a life of such promise but also because the impact of his death unleashes the turmoil that was just beneath the surface of their lives. His mother becomes obsessed and can’t let go; his ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Rex Reed The New York Observer	"A somber, sensitively acted, intelligently penned and sincerely directed film"
		Scott Tobias AV Club	"In the smallest of moments, it can be profoundly affecting (...) It’s when the small moments become large ones that Feste overreaches and the shaky performances don’t bail her out."
		Stephen Holden The New York Times	"Not even the skillful performances of its stars, Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan (...) can cover up the mysterious gaps in continuity of a screenplay whose thudding dialogue spells out every emotion"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"'The Greatest' combines the tragedy of 'Ordinary People' with the teen-pregnancy plotline of 'Juno', resulting in a film with some good performances that gets hamstrung by tonal problems."
		Duane Byrge The Hollywood Reporter	"In this compelling drama, writer-director Shana Feste transcends a clinical depiction of grief, which in less assured hands could have morphed into a talking-heads essay"
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The film's people and situation are perfectly clear, and with this cast might have made a powerful film, but the screenplay contains baffling omissions, needless confusions and questions we should not be thinking of (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"

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