This casting director must be some kind of miracle worker because the amount of talent in this film is staggering. I give credit to the casting director because it seems impossible for this many really good/great actors to have been drawn into the story – a sentimental past and present look into one woman’s life, particularly one weekend at a friend’s wedding where she meets her “one true love” and “first mistake.” Obviously this film was aimed at women, and I guess Hollywood thinks that as long as it is aimed at women they don’t have to try to hard to impress us – just give us some sad moments and a love story. I was really bored during the “present” scenes. Toni Collette, who I usually adore, even failed to get me interested with her woman-at-a-crossroads character. The “past” scenes were much more interesting, but the movie’s hugest flaw was giving Hugh Dancy, who steals the strongest performance of the movie out from under all of these great actresses, the role of the alcoholic brother. He was interesting, he was fresh, but does Claire Danes love him? No, the main love interest, a guy that she is still thinking about 50 years later, is Patrick Wilson, a handsome doctor that “everyone is in love with.” Why? Couldn’t tell you, the story never gave me any reason besides the fact that he was a handsome doctor.

So why 3 stars? The cinematography was beautiful, which makes sense when you find out that the director, Lajos Koltai, is an Oscar-nominated cinematographer. However, it doesn’t really excuse the many times in the film I was more interested in the scenery than what was going on in the story. None of the performances were bad (although Wilson verged on wooden), and Claire Danes did what she could. Overall, I expected much better from something Michael Cunningham co-wrote. Maybe the actors did also.

Popular wisdom says it’s hard to find good roles in Hollywood once you’re a woman “of a certain age,” so it’s great to see a film that has so many interesting characters.

The leading male roles went to Patrick Wilson and Hugh Dancy. While they aren’t exactly unknowns, their experience pales in comparison to their female counterparts: Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Natasha Richardson, and Meryl Streep and her daughter Mamie Gummer. Eileen Atkins and Glen Close also have small but solid roles.

This is one of those meandering character-driven movies, so beware if that isn’t your sort of thing.

Oh, and bring tissues.

This was a very beautiful film. While perhaps less conventional in its storyline, with rather choppy transitions between the present and past, it nonetheless managed to create a very emotionally moving story. It was not particularly entertaining nor was it educational, but it nonetheless painted a beautiful portrait of a woman’s heart, and the truth that so few of us grasp. Told through the delicate lives of Ann Grant Lord (Vanessa Redgrave/Claire Danes) and Lila Wittenborn (Meryl Streep/Mamie Gummer), Evening explores the depths of women’s hearts and the dreams that live within them.

“We are mysterious creatures, aren’t we? And at the end, so much of it turns out not to matter.” – Lila Wittenborn (Meryl Streep)