Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits: Directed by Rebecca Miller. With Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk, John Ventimiglia. Three women’s escapes from their afflicted lives. Each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.

“I donu0026#39;t know why there are so many recent attempts at this sort of thing: individual episodes that approach and overlap the same concept. Perhaps it is because it is easier to craft episodes with power rather than worry about an arc of 90 minutes or more. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut we do have them. Some work amazingly well. I found u0026#39;Things you can tellu0026#39; nearly lifealtering because of the crafty way all the actresses picked up each othersu0026#39; mannerisms to merge into the same woman. u0026#39;!0 Conversationsu0026#39; was a different take, with the action all occurring in the same world. Less effective overall (with a more overt politics) but well structured.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis, however, is a mess. It bludgeons. It repeats. It insists on obviousness. No subtly is allowed: either an effect shouts or is bleached away. And the worst thing, the most damaging thing that can be said: there is no reward, no insight, no enrichment for the rawness we experience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWallace Shawn and a talented cinematographer wasted as well. Shame.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe reliable Parker Posey has a line so wonderful, so noticeably superior to all else, I am convinced she made it up: she says she needs to get an underwater camera. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTedu0026#39;s Evaluation — 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.”