Admissions (2004)

Lauren Ambrose shines in this offbeat family drama about a high school graduate, Evie (Ambrose), blowing a series of college-admission interviews, embracing loneliness, and giving mixed signals to a boy (Fran Kranz) who has loved her since grade school. Meanwhile, Evie's distracted mother, Martha (Amy Madigan), prepares to present her other daughter, Emily (Taylor Roberts), a retarded savant, to the world as a wunderkind poet (the poems are actually Evie's) while her dad, Harry (John Savage), an investment banker, never emerges from his basement hobby room. The imaginative story, based on a play by Dawn O'Leary (who wrote the adapted screenplay), is slightly strained within the parameters of a feature film. But Admissions is graced by a number of strong, memorable individual scenes and some sensitive, deeply touching performances, including Christopher Lloyd's work as a remote, lonely teacher briefly aroused by Martha's quixotic mission to unveil Emily's miraculous lyricism. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Didn't quite get it.

"Admissions" was a bit of a stretch. Although the performances were top notch the basic credibility was difficult to believe. The would-be boyfriend instantly saw through the main ruse, why wouldn't everyone else? But then he was the one chasing after her when "damaged goods" to describe her would be too generous. Why in the world would he want to subject himself to a person as obviously unbalanced as she was? There were too many things like those in logic, and in characters for me - I don't want to have to keep giving the benefit of the doubt to a movie. Move me. Take me on a journey. Admissions didn't do that. August 31, 2008

Sweet and beautiful movie about love

*****
I enjoyed this complex movie about a family, about family love. It is written from the perspective of a daughter, Evie, and is beautiful. Themes are adult and inappropriate for children; however, for mature adults, the material is rich, not offensive, and poignant. This movie is special because although it is written from Evie's perspectice, it is easy to understand her mother's (played by Amy Madigan) perspective, that of her sister, young boyfriend, and even husband.

It is rare to find a movie that is beautiful, without gratuitous elements to appeal to our popular culture (and thus sincere), telling and interesting and different story, yet one with which at some level we can all identify.

View this movie if you are looking for something thought-provoking, well-done, with spectacular acting and an intelligent plot. It is an anomaly today, so don't miss it!
***** February 3, 2006

WOW! This may be the worst movie I have ever seen!

Maybe the most perplexing thing in the world to me is how people are writing positive reviews of this film. The story line is horrendous and the acting is worse.
What was Christopher Lloyd thinking signing up to play along side these terrible actors. I mean the girl who plays the idiot savant may not even know what that is - they just picked the first actress who wanted the job and said "repeat what Lauren Ambrose says and try and act dim witted....and....ACTION" - she is really that bad.
Did the actors improvise this movie? I had to turn it off about halfway through the DVD and the only reason I made it that far was because I truly could not believe that it wasnt getting any better.
Think after school special but with no budget.
From top to bottom there isnt a single interesting thing about this movie...why does the dad spend 100% of his time in the basement working on trains? Man those scenes were tough to make it through.
I dont even write reviews of movies or products but this movie is such a special kind of bad that I felt compelled to get online and register for some movie reviews sites just to warn people.
Tomorrow morning I plan on getting up early - heck, I might even just head out now at 11pm and start rousing my neighbors out of bed and having them sign an agreement that they would never rent this "film".
The other day I was walking to the drugstore to get some cold medicine (feeling so sick I could barely leave the house) and on the way there I was jumped by three guys and beat to a bloody pulp and spent 2 weeks in the hospital on life support. That day now seems enjoyable compared to what I just went through watching half of this movie.
Please please please do not buy or see this movie.
I dont even think I can return this to Blockbuster for fear a friend or co-worker might see me do it...and what if when I return it someone else rents? I would keep the thing if it didnt mean that I would have to pay for it and that would mean buying it which would really put me over the edge.
If you watched every single episode of Small Wonder (the 80's sitcom with the robot girl Vicky) in reverse back-to-back with no commercials slowed down to 1/3 the normal speed it would be more enjoyable that this film.
Right now, as you read this, punch yourself in the face as hard as you can just for having searched for this movie and found this review. Now do it again.
How did you even make it to this page? You are not human.
Please go take a warm bath and scrub down and think about nothing for 4 hours.
If you own this DVD already, please go out and buy the most expensive shredder available - the ones that can cross shred a DVD - and shred this DVD before you take that bath.
I cant believe Amazon is making me give this movie 1 star.

If you have made the mistake of seeing this movie already please email me for support. I will drop everything I am doing and fly to your town to aid you in your recovery.

Thanks - keep the faith January 12, 2006

Well done

We have a character named Evie. Evie just wants to be a good person. She's nice, friendly, smiles often, but is strangely brutally honest. Evie also has a secret. Her idiot-savant sister has been reciting original poetry, which is getting the community excited about the sister writing. Unfortunately, it's Evie's poetry. While their mother starts being happy again and the boy next door shows his interest in Evie, Evie just tries to figure out what she really wants to do.

What to keep in mind while watching this movie is who Evie really is. For such a brutally honest person who doesn't mind telling Ivy-league types that she doesn't respect them, it would seem odd that she would be able to pull off a lie. For someone so happy and cheerful, she's quite emotionless when it comes to certain issues. Those aren't character flaws, they're plot development, and they mean a lot more than they at first seem.

Mostly this is something of a melodrama: a character lies, the other characters' personalities propel them through drama as relationships are held at risk. But in terms of the writing it's very fresh and bold. The acting helps the writing along very well (maybe the idiot-savant sister could have been played better), and it is a real joy to watch.

The directing and the cinematography aren't quite as good. They're acceptable, and Evie's world is wreathed in color and light, which makes for some very beautiful images, but it's not very consistent. It's not really so much of a flaw as a result of a low production value, but within that same value is some genuine storytelling and a real care for the characters. So while it isn't a perfect movie, it's certainly an enjoyable one.

--PolarisDiB December 15, 2005

A poignant story

Admissions is a sweet movie with a serious tone. Ambrose is great (as always). Llyod who I usually like, is a little awkward in his role. Overall it's an interesting and enjoyable movie. September 18, 2005

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