Hateship Loveship (2013)

Kristen Wiig stars as Johanna Parry and she's a very, very, very emotionally stunted woman. In fact, she's so withdrawn and displays so little emotion that you could swear at first that this might be a zombie film. Now I do not blame her entirely for this sort of cold and disconnected performance, as the director obviously must have been looking for this. And, this sort of character might have worked had the film been more coherent and had a discernible message, though I could detect little of either.

Johanna is a live-in caretaker. When the film begins, the old woman she's been caring for dies and Johanna now is moving on to another assignment. This time, she's to care for a teenage girl and her grandfather (Nick Nolte). Soon she sees that there is some strange baggage with the family, as the teen's father, Ken (Guy Pearce) is not living with them. Slowly she learns this is because Ken is an addict and was responsible for his wife's death—and went to prison because of this. He's now on probation* and is clearly a very messed up guy and he shows many indications that he's still abusing drugs.

For kicks, the daughter and her very nasty friend decide to create a fake boyfriend for Johanna—sending her emails that are supposedly from a love-struck Ken. Very quickly Johanna falls for him and begins writing him regularly. She also appears to be coming out of her emotional shell. Now she begins planning for a life with a man who barely knows her—though she now thinks that he does.

So far, all that has happened in the movie is pretty interesting and the picture pulls you into this world—even if Wiig's performance is WAY too understated. However, so much of what follows simply makes little sense. Johanna decides to empty her bank account and ship furniture to Ken—and this second part might get her arrested because the grandfather claims it's his and she takes it from his home. She then shows up unannounced at Ken's and just hangs out there. After a while, she realizes that he has NOT been sending her letters and it's all a sick joke…yet she stays! Soon, he's stealing her money to support his drug habit and she seems content to live with him. By the end of the film, there are both indications that the relationship might be working out (though WHY is beyond me) but there are also indications he's still using drugs. If this ending sounds unsatisfying and vague, you are definitely correct.

It's probably good that Influx asked me to review this one—not only because I love reviewing films but because I am a retired psychotherapist and used to work in a drug treatment center. So much of what occurs in HateshipmLoveship seems inappropriate and ridiculous. While there are codependent women who might latch onto an addict with fairytale dreams that it will all work out, not showing a realistic ending seems inexplicable. Instead, there's a strong message that it might just work out fine for this couple—when this is a very dim possibility. Plus, I'd hate to see anyone internalizing this stupid message—sort of like the old song "Stand By Your Man". In other words, if you just love someone enough, everything will somehow work itself out in life!

*By the way, if a person has gotten out of jail early, they have a PAROLE officer, not a probation officer. Probation officers are employed when a person has been found guilty of a crime but did not get sent to prison. The drug program where I worked was for folks on parole and

Fmovies: "If you and Edith weren't so good at writing letters..." Johanna Parry (Wiig) is a caregiver who has worked for the same woman since she was 15. During this time she rarely left the house and lived a sheltered life. When she passes she takes a job working for an elderly man and his granddaughter Sabitha. Sabitha isn't excited about having a nanny so her and her friend respond to a letter Johanna wrote to Sabitha's father Ken (Pearce). This starts in motion a "relationship" that unintentionally helps everyone involved. This is another movie that is hard to review. The acting is good and the story is interesting and very well written. The only downside is that its just like watching real life. There is really no excitement or any real intrigue. Not even a will they/wont't they feeling. Kristin Wiig is starting to become like Bill Murray in the way that she either does laugh-out-loud-rolling-in-the-aisles comedy or very deliberately paced not quite comedy/not quite drama films. This is a movie that when it was over my only thought was...huh, so that's done. Overall, not a bad movie but it was like watching real life play out and that's really not why I watch movies. I like to have something in it that makes me think. This didn't. I give it a C.

Kristen Wiig reveals incredible depth and range in this Oscar-worthy performance about an unfulfilled care-giver aiding a widowed father with a drug problem, a troubled teen coming of age and a grandfather trying to deal with failing health while keeping the family together. Set aside your comedic expectations based on Wiig's earlier work -- this is a drama with a full range of nuanced feeling - humour, wit, longing and fulfilment in the classic style of Canada's Nobel prize-winning author Alice Munro, whose short story was masterfully adapted to this screenplay. There are no lightweights in the cast either: veteran character actors Guy Pearce, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Jason Leigh deliver rock solid performances. This felt like a Sarah Polleyproduction: no overtly grand shots or scenes but every character cast perfectly, every performance and shot building a deep, rich reverb and feeling. A fantastic film.

Hateship Loveship fmovies. This film tells the story of a lonely woman who works as a live in carer for elderly people. She falls in love with a man after a cruel trick player on her.

"Hateship Loveship" borders on being a romantic comedy, but it's more bitter than sweet. Johanna is a caring and loving woman, and yet she is at the receiving end of a very cruel joke. She gets much of my sympathy, even though she hangs on to the man despite the man's numerous shortcomings. The way she is treated by the man is truly despicable and shocking, yet she hangs on for the wrong reason. It's quite a tragedy that makes me heart heavy. I think Johanna's robotic appearance is due to her working as a carer since teenage, and as she says, it's the only world she knows. She doesn't know what love and affection is, which makes me even more angry at the way she got exploited.

It's a sad romantic film, which is not a usual combination. I enjoyed watching it.

This movie was based on the short story 'Hateship, Friensdhip, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage' which won the Noble prize in literature a decade ago. A pure drama about a middle aged single woman whose life was dedicated to her profession. Just like similar to the 'Finding Vivian Maier', except there was no photographies involved. Frankly, I was not predicted that this film would impress me a lot. Picked it to watch without an interest, but while a watch surprised and glued to my seat to the rest of the film.

Even though there were fine actors in the movie like Guy Pearce and latest sensation Hailee Steinfield, it was a Kristen Wiig show. Apart from voice-over for the animations and other supporting roles, she was not seen in a top form recently. Her commitment to the character she played as Johanna Perry the live-in caretaker in the movie was inevitable to appreciate. Feels very real who fall for a teenagers prank that actually influence her life to turn it around. So how and what are the things to be done against the odds are displayed well.

''The only thing worse than friendship is hateship.''

Kind of 'second chance' theme, if you get one you must seize it. Though, it was not that simple in the movie, but developed at a fair dosage of obstacles between 'the desperate' and 'the hope' to form balanced account. Don't consider it an inspirational, it was just pieces of common event that's happening everywhere, but creatively put into the texts and then cinematic. Commercializable title that did not suit for a realistic narration. Especially not in todays world, might have been a perfect title 20-25 years ago. Once you watch it the perspective will change that still movie like this are made for the silver screen, not direct-to-television, but what? Sadly commercially fails.

If you observe closely the end scene, it was very practical to the real life. Whether we accept our fate as it happened or we created it, the flaws always remain, especially in a relationship. That's what the entire movie unfolds, how people cope with each other despite what they were before. A very well told simple story. Of course it was a slow narration, not because of the stretched from a short story, but to give the depth in the portrayal. This movie is for ardent drama fans like me, for a change others as well should try this little sweet movie.

8/10

This is a very well-done, gentle romantic movie, with excellent acting, especially from Kristen Wiig. Family members and I had not heard of Ms. Wiig before seeing this movie recently on a movie channel. We understand now that she is mainly a comedic actor, so it was good to see this movie without knowing that in advance.

This movie seems geared more toward an audience from the South or Midwest. Members of my family have hired young female caregivers like Johanna Parry (Ms. Wiig's character, who is the movie's main character) to take care of our parents before their death. So we can probably better relate to Ms. Parry than many folks who might consider her a little odd.

This movie does something that Hollywood rarely does: it shines a light (and a sympathetic one at that) on working-class American white people. We know of working-class white women like Ms. Parry, who are not "ambitious" (in the traditional sense of the word), and thus seem content not having many impressive possessions, work titles, social status, etc. So to us, the movie is quite realistic in this sense.

Our only criticisms of the movie: the ending seems a bit rushed (is there a director's cut?); and, knowing some working-class men with drug problems, we felt that actor Guy Pearce was too handsome, polished, well-built, and well-spoken to play Ken, the movie's principal male character. Actors like Edward Norton would have been more believable in the role.

But, on the whole, we highly recommend this movie, and hope it draws a large viewer-ship via cable TV.