The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2014)

Simply A Masterpiece

One of my all time favorites.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." —Nicole Krauss, "The History of Love""The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him" seems like an intermediary phase in the stories of – Conor(James McAvoy) and Eleanor(Jessica Chastain) - where quite is left to be answered.Based on the "Them" version, and in pursuit to know the subjective sides, where they try to reclaim their love and lives in the aftermath of a mutual-tragedy, the male-perspective evolves into Conor being utterly perplexed about their status as a married-couple for been left high-and-dry by the grieving Eleanor, who "kept on walking away" from their painful past. Conor's life been vacated by the death of their infant-son and Eleanor leaving him to apparently "try a different version of herself", all he wished for was "some time to talk it out" before she "disappeared-off to wherever it was she disappeared to", clearly trying to get hold of the present through the past.A little redundancy flows in instances, between this separated couple (not really 'estranged', with unbinding love), due to which, the film raised naturally a lot of doubts about the nature, the causes and the future of Conor and Eleanor's relationship – which could perhaps be best defined on the lines of "existentialism", marked by "a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently absurd world" (in this case – a meaningful, yet worthless seeming world in the lives of the protagonists where no sense of belongingness was able to be attained) - the apparent reason when on occasions Eleanor wished to be "(at) someplace good" with Conor, who "went soft" in his ever growing longing for her.Even though, their falling lives couldn't find a ground till the time they do really move away from each other and starting again on different notes – Eleanor going-off (to a French university to study anthropology) and Conor joining his not-so-loved father's (Ciarin Hinds) restaurant business and being present-orienting with his chef-friend Stuart (Bill Hader) and kittenish co-worker Alexis (Nina Arianda) – reaching a point where he could stop regretting his past, and hoping that Eleanor does so too.However, as once William Shakespeare said about not all love-stories have their – "Journeys end in lovers' meeting" – so does this one. However, a surreptitious hint towards a confluence could be seen in its culmination; worthy of the efforts put in while watching the three-parts of this trilogy. Though, one must pay heed to the order – "Them", "Him" and "Her" - to gain a momentum of understanding of a larger picture, in this intricately and meticulously written film by Director Ned Benson.Verdict – A different film-viewing experience, with the subjectivity based versions and a rare on-screen chemistry between McAvoy and Chastain.Rating – 7/10

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby…Him (2013)This is part of a two segment movie about a couple recovering from tragedy (losing a young child) told from the point of view of the mother and father separately. Like "Her," this one is mostly about the protagonist, with some key elements from the relationship unravelling. And like "Her" there is very little about the grieving or the actual tragedy. We are supposed to be dropped into their lives long enough later to be in their individual recoveries.The father here is James McAvoy, and he's good, but he doesn't have the intensity and range of Jessica Chastain, who carries the "Her" movie so well. The supporting cast is thinner here, too—Viola Davis makes only a tangential appearance, and there is little of Isabelle Hupert and none of William Hurt, who both make "Her" rather special. So here we have the somewhat clichéd "friends at a bar" as McAvoy's clan, and it's nothing much.It's tough to judge all of this because I saw "Her" first and so the plot itself was new to me then, and here it is simply the retelling of the same story. So what was most interesting of all was the re-telling of the overlapping sections, seeing the events from different eyes. This wasn't pushed hard, which is fine (this is no "Rashoman"), and so it just makes the pair of movies gel.Beware of the third movie, however—which has the suffix: "Them." I haven't see it (and won't), but it is apparently a mash of the first two, a shortened single version that apparently lacks the potentially probing aspects of the two halves seen singley or together. The two separate movies are sometimes shown or released as a marathon version that is not the same as the shortened, combined Them. So see one of the two single versions and go from there.Advice: "Him" alone is not as satisfying as "Her," for commons reasons like the depth of acting as well as the range of characters. Chastain's version is better by far, but if you do see "Her" first, I think "Him" adds another layer that is satisfying, and not redundant except in just the right moments.

This review is for both the HIM and HER versions of the movie. please note this is just one guy's opinion.. My friend who I watched the movie with loved it.. unfortunately, I did not have the same experience.THE GOOD: 1. The acting, except for Jessica Chastain's performance, is good and all of the actors did their jobs well considering the script. Jess Weixler as the sister did exceptionally well for such a small part. She carried all the scenes in which she appears. 2. Sound and editing. I could hear and understand all of the dialog spoken. The transitions between scenes and the flow of the storytelling felt very natural. THE BAD: 1. The story & dialog felt very contrived & pretentious. A couple deals with the death of their infant son and their relationship breaks down afterward. This is the root of the story but the way these characters deal with such a tragedy is what I found to be so contrived.For example: James McAvoy's Character Conor has a pet goldfish "Ralph" and it dies when his Dad accidentally overfeeds or feeds it the wrong food. The two men have a "heart to heart" talk during a walk to the river to dispose of Ralph's corpse, which is in a little cardboard box, by throwing it in the river. seriously, who would do that? would you do that?another example is a scene where the two main characters are sitting on the sidewalk having a normal discussion about their relationship troubles which is only very odd considering the circumstances that one of them just got hit by a car and The Rescue personal which is clearly there for the whole discussion appear to be just standing around off screen waiting for them to finish the conversation before they load him into the ambulance.There are many more moments like these and it may seem trivia and unimportant to some but for me it is this lack of attention to details that break the story. 2. The cinema photography is too dark in quite a few scenes and the soft blue color correction tint used is an interesting choice and will probably not be a problem for most people but i found it distracting. It took me out of the movie viewing experience just by the fact that I noticed it. 3. Jessica Chastain.. Her acting or her character in this movie rubbed me the wrong way.. i found it wooden. She was unable to emote in a believable manner.. I did not like or sympathize with her character at all but i am not sure whether it is her performance or the way her character is written.. maybe we are not suppose to like her and the fact that her character has difficulty expressing emotion could be intentional.. if so mission accomplished.4.The relationship between the two main characters is strange from the beginning and why in the world the main guy would want to stay with a such a flaky, cold and emotional distant person is beyond me.I watched both movies back to back. The HIM version first and then HER. I liked HIM better than HER but overall hated THEM both. Mediocrity at its best and a complete waste of time unless you are a film maker or screenwriter looking to learn from someone else's mistakes.side note: watch THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST instead which also stars William Hurt and contains the very same subject matter of a couple that deals with the loss of their son and the break-up of their marriage.

This 2-part double feature, character study, and drama is slated to be shown as two separate films, but at its world premiere I was shown both films as one continuous feature length film. "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" will open in the coming months and stars the on screen talents of Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Ciaran Hinds, Bill Hader, Viola Davis, Jess Weixler, and William Hurt. This film comes to us from writer and director Ned Benson, and this is his first full length feature film after successfully bringing to life many short films.Well people sometimes you talk about technical aspects of a film & I will talk about this film in such a manner, however sometimes you talk about a movie personally or how it struck you personally….and that's where I'm going to begin. This is the longest, most boring and pointless waste of time that I have come across in a good long while. To put it into perspective this is only a few moments shorter than "Titanic" or "Schindler's List", and either of those films could be considered a laugh-a-minute compared to this thing. You guys out there know that I never spoil movies but this is a spoiler-free review because nothing happens in this movie, which means that I couldn't spoil it if I even wanted to. All of the people in this movie just move from scene to scene where nothing is connected in such a way as to propel the narrative forward, and to put it in the simplest of terms if "Eleanor Rigby" was any more dull then I would've been watching real life.In my opinion filmmaker Ned Benson violated the very first rule of why people plan to take time out of their day, why people put money aside for the multiplex, and why in most instances that people travel a good distance to a theater…they do all of these things because they want to be entertained. I'm going to tell you guys something right now, and all of the artsy fartsy people aren't going to be able to give me their character study bullshit about this movie because I have an answer for them. The answer is this. The two ladies behind me we're snoring most of the film, the guy sitting next to me was frequently bitching and moaning about how terrible this was to his wife, and I myself had to get up out of my seat & stand in the back of the theater for a few moments to avoid falling asleep myself. "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" was screened for us at 2:00 in the afternoon so I ask you, does this sound good to anyone? These are my true and honest experiences sitting at the world premiere, and I'm not going to change my position because most other critics agree to like this film.I will say however after going through my notes that I will complement & give credit where credit is due. First the girl that portrays Chastain's sister is independent film queen Jess Weixler, and she is a brilliant breath of fresh air and a sign of hope during a duration of time that is anything but speedy. Her scenes with Chastain are probably the project's best, and Chastain is once again well above average. She's solidly founded in this character and I can sympathize with her, but at the same time she is such an indecisive and morose individual that you just want to give her a swift kick in the derrière and tell her to get over it! Make a decision….do something! On the flip side James McAvoy stood out to me as lighter and funnier than his counterpart. Even though McAvoy's Conor is anything but a perfect character, I did always feel like he was more of a victim than anyone else. Without question the project always plays to the favor of the Eleanor character, even though in my humble opinion she is a very flawed protagonist. Then I will concede that McAvoy's buddy played by Bill Hader was such a welcomed treat, and that's because without him and his humor everyone would have been snoring instead of just the two ladies behind me.This writer and director crafts a quality looking picture, but fills it with a central heroine that just doesn't know what she wants. Boo-Freakin-Hoo, and welcome to the real world! There is her father, her mother, her sister, her professor, and most all her husband right off the top of my head that are all ready and willing to help this character, but the problem is that she just doesn't want it. Then I just couldn't get over how many times Eleanor would do something with no motivation or explanation, and this lead to more than a few unresolved conflicts.At 3 hours and 15 minutes "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" felt so long that I actually thought that it was December when I came out. Boy I can't stress enough again how very lucky I was to attend the world premiere screening where I was able to see both parts of this "Character Study". You know because 1 hour and 35 minutes just wasn't enough enjoyment for 1 afternoon, no this guy had to pile on another 1 hour and 40 minutes just in case you couldn't get enough the first go-round. What really sucked more than anything was that out of the entire film festival this was by far the longest film that I saw, and was unfortunately one of the worst as well. At the end of this investment of time you truly have learned almost nothing new than when you began this journey over 3 hours previous. Nick's Reel Screen Review is a very dismal 1 star out of 4, and that is for the very dismal, slow, and un-entertaining "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby".