10 Stars

It’s not a story about a Beatles fan stumbling down a well.

I highly recommend The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.

It’s completely character driven but beautifully written.

Many parts are wonderful, where to start?

Look for it in your local arthouse theaters…I can’t believe I just used that phrase. Yuck, what’s happening to me?

Anyway, hopefully it’s playing somewhere near you, because it only got limited release.

I hiked all the way to the Landmark Renaissance Theater, which doesn’t have ‘Regal’ or ‘AMC’ anywhere in the title.

So purchasing the ticket online does nothing; waiting in queue is still required to print the stub.

It’s a first world problem, I know, but a problem nonetheless. The more avoidable issue stems from the fellow coughing several seats down, forcing me to reposition nine rows up. But I won’t get into that.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is broken into three films: Him, Her and Them. All three films follow the same time period, but are told from the differing perspectives of Connor Ludlow (James McAvoy) and Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain), a young married couple living in New York.

The version currently in theaters, Them, depicts the plot from both characters’ perspectives.

Him and Her will be released in arthouse theaters on October 10, 2014, so I’ll be schlepping back to the Landmark.

The pacing is smart, the stakes are high, the tension’s constantly palpable and the character development is elegant.

Romance isn’t my favorite genre, but I can’t imagine it being done any better.

Ultimately it’s a tale of moral ambiguity,

James McAvoy is just fantastic.

This fellow, along with his role in X-Men: Days of Future Past from earlier this summer, is turning into quite the prolific movie star.

Keep up the good work, James!

My favorite leading lady, Jessica Chastain, is lights-out. She looks good with short hair.

Her character is incredibly likable and sympathetic. Props to Rebecca Edmonston who did the costumes. All of Chastain’s outfits are fantastic.

Viola Davis kills it in this movie.

She’s great in Prisoners and Ender’s Game but this is probably her best role yet.

I cried several times throughout. This movie is incredibly touching.

Don’t let me oversell it, but TDOER is easily one of the best films released in 2014.

This may be the right candidate for ‘Best Date Movie’ ever. Or perhaps it’s the worst date movie ever. Depends upon your perspective.

See what I did there?

Just about as ‘meta’ as you can get in a film review.