Cameron-Diaz Movie Reviews

The Invisible Circus must have looked great on paper. It's Jennifer Egan's successful and much-loved first novel adapted by proven screenwriter Adam Brooks (Practical Magic, Beloved, French Kiss). It had a promising variety of star wattage attached, including blockbuster darling Cameron Diaz, rising star Jordana Brewster, art house favorite Christopher Eccleston and the perenially excellent Blythe Danner. The drama moves from the coast of California to the streets of Paris to the cliffs of Portugal -- a potential visual feast of landscapes. And from a marketing standpoint, the story features a bit of everything -- family, rebellion, love, loss, guns, drugs, sex, world-travel, a 70s soundtrack, politcal intruige... even an old Volkswagen. A guaranteed hit, right?

Wrong. The Invisible Circus fails, and fails miserably.

The failure of this film can be blamed largely on Brewster. Her Phoebe is by turns annoying, cruel, selfish, ridiculous... you name it -- Brewster is almost unwatchable in her portrayal of a difficult character. I imagine an actress with more emotional sensitivity could have pulled it off and made the character a bit sympathetic, but Brewster fails entirely. From what I understand, she is studying at Yale... let's hope she's majoring in something other than drama.

Cameron Diaz fares better -- unlike Brewster, she's actually acting. But her character Faith is cursed by writer/director Brooks, who robs us visually and verbally of Faith's real struggle. He has the other characters inform us that Faith is upset, rather than give Diaz the chance to really portray the conflict onscreen. And so when we finally reach the point where we learn what really happened to her character, it feels like an anticlimax. Diaz tries her best, but she can't save Faith.

I'm a fan of both Christopher Eccleston and Blythe Danner, and why either of them chose to appear in this movie is a mystery to me. Eccleston, like Diaz, is given little to work with -- he's reduced to a series of broody stares at Brewster and a very bad hippie wig that makes him look older, not younger. Danner, as Phoebe and Faith's mother, is limited largely by poorly written dialogue and by the fact that all of her scenes are with Brewster.

Given the dramatic potential of the story, I think it could have been a better film in the hands of another writer/director. Though Brooks is a proven screenwriter and has even directed before (back in the 80s), whatever experience he gained in the past fails him here. He has given us the dismal Brewster in an uneven, poorly-written and emotionally lacking display of moviemaking. The Invisible Circus is a waste of time.

This movie is based upon a novel by Jennifer Egans. The main characters are Faith (Cameron Diaz) and her boyfriend Wolf.
Faith and Wolf are ebullient to go and join student protests for a better world (late 1960's) that were taking place in Europe and from there Faith writes letters to her younger sister Phoebe.
One day there's news that Faith was found dead at the bottom of a cliff somewhere in Portugalia.
Phoebe is absolutely shocked especially when she recalled that her sister had such a lively personality and it wouldn't be like her to decide on suicide. So she goes investigating for facts and soon finds herself madly in love with Wolf - her sister's boyfriend even though he's married now to another girl!

Interesting...but not that much to be honest!

overall, i'd have to say i prefer this film 10 times over something like the fast and the furious or training day which in my book were both complete wastes of time spent which cant be recovered ever again. cameron diaz is truly an amazing actress but i didnt feel they gave her enough to truly play with here although i will admit she was quite impressive in the bits she did play. jordana brewster is not necessarily a bad actress but i dare say she doesnt have the umph to give this film what it really needs. aside from these facts, the film storyline is fairly entertaining and rather intriguing as you never know from one minute to the next exactly what to expect. circus tends to drag when cameron diaz is off the screen. i, myself, never knew whether i was going to end up crying or biting my nails from a layer of suspense. although the slipcover advertises this film as a drama,i say there is a degree of suspense and mystery here which does wrap itself up rather neatly in the end. whether or not you like the story or its ending, i say adam brooks did a relatively decent job here and i would watch more of his films in the future.if you like this, you might try virgin suicides or limbo.

The Invisible Circus must have looked great on paper. It's Jennifer Egan's successful and much-loved first novel adapted by proven screenwriter Adam Brooks (Practical Magic, Beloved, French Kiss). It had a promising variety of star wattage attached, including blockbuster darling Cameron Diaz, rising star Jordana Brewster, art house favorite Christopher Eccleston and the perenially excellent Blythe Danner. The drama moves from the coast of California to the streets of Paris to the cliffs of Portugal -- a potential visual feast of landscapes. And from a marketing standpoint, the story features a bit of everything -- family, rebellion, love, loss, guns, drugs, sex, world-travel, a 70s soundtrack, politcal intruige... even an old Volkswagen. A guaranteed hit, right?

Wrong. The Invisible Circus fails, and fails miserably.

The failure of this film can be blamed largely on Brewster. Her Phoebe is by turns annoying, cruel, selfish, ridiculous... you name it -- Brewster is almost unwatchable in her portrayal of a difficult character. I imagine an actress with more emotional sensitivity could have pulled it off and made the character a bit sympathetic, but Brewster fails entirely. From what I understand, she is studying at Yale... let's hope she's majoring in something other than drama.

Cameron Diaz fares better -- unlike Brewster, she's actually acting. But her character Faith is cursed by writer/director Brooks, who robs us visually and verbally of Faith's real struggle. He has the other characters inform us that Faith is upset, rather than give Diaz the chance to really portray the conflict onscreen. And so when we finally reach the point where we learn what really happened to her character, it feels like an anticlimax. Diaz tries her best, but she can't save Faith.

I'm a fan of both Christopher Eccleston and Blythe Danner, and why either of them chose to appear in this movie is a mystery to me. Eccleston, like Diaz, is given little to work with -- he's reduced to a series of broody stares at Brewster and a very bad hippie wig that makes him look older, not younger. Danner, as Phoebe and Faith's mother, is limited largely by poorly written dialogue and by the fact that all of her scenes are with Brewster.

Given the dramatic potential of the story, I think it could have been a better film in the hands of another writer/director. Though Brooks is a proven screenwriter and has even directed before (back in the 80s), whatever experience he gained in the past fails him here. He has given us the dismal Brewster in an uneven, poorly-written and emotionally lacking display of moviemaking. The Invisible Circus is a waste of time.

This movie is based upon a novel by Jennifer Egans. The main characters are Faith (Cameron Diaz) and her boyfriend Wolf.
Faith and Wolf are ebullient to go and join student protests for a better world (late 1960's) that were taking place in Europe and from there Faith writes letters to her younger sister Phoebe.
One day there's news that Faith was found dead at the bottom of a cliff somewhere in Portugalia.
Phoebe is absolutely shocked especially when she recalled that her sister had such a lively personality and it wouldn't be like her to decide on suicide. So she goes investigating for facts and soon finds herself madly in love with Wolf - her sister's boyfriend even though he's married now to another girl!

Interesting...but not that much to be honest!

overall, i'd have to say i prefer this film 10 times over something like the fast and the furious or training day which in my book were both complete wastes of time spent which cant be recovered ever again. cameron diaz is truly an amazing actress but i didnt feel they gave her enough to truly play with here although i will admit she was quite impressive in the bits she did play. jordana brewster is not necessarily a bad actress but i dare say she doesnt have the umph to give this film what it really needs. aside from these facts, the film storyline is fairly entertaining and rather intriguing as you never know from one minute to the next exactly what to expect. circus tends to drag when cameron diaz is off the screen. i, myself, never knew whether i was going to end up crying or biting my nails from a layer of suspense. although the slipcover advertises this film as a drama,i say there is a degree of suspense and mystery here which does wrap itself up rather neatly in the end. whether or not you like the story or its ending, i say adam brooks did a relatively decent job here and i would watch more of his films in the future.if you like this, you might try virgin suicides or limbo.

I bought this movie because I collect movies with Cameron Diaz and I can say it was disapointing. She appears during one minute at the beginning and never again!
I didn't find any interest in the story, and I was yawning all the time. How boring can this be?

the story is boring and stupid, the actors act very bad, except Cameron Diaz, but we only see her 5 minutes.

I could hold forth on the relative merits of this DVD's entertainment value--you get to see some weird incarnations of various prominent actors, James Spader looking particularly weird; not that many flicks set in Oklahoma these days; Joanna Going carried the film, etc. etc.--but instead I think I'll criticize the DVD itself. First off, it has exactly ONE "special feature" (production stills, at that!). Furthermore, not only does this disc lack the extended cut (missing 3 minutes, this is just the R-rated version), it is also, most pathetically of all, full-frame only. Come on! This is a 2002 release of a **1997** film, and somehow they couldn't manage a widescreen edition. Has the distributor already been repossessed or something? It's DVDs like this that make me doubt for the future of the medium. Get with the program, Artisan!

I bought this movie because I collect movies with Cameron Diaz and I can say it was disapointing. She appears during one minute at the beginning and never again!
I didn't find any interest in the story, and I was yawning all the time. How boring can this be?

the story is boring and stupid, the actors act very bad, except Cameron Diaz, but we only see her 5 minutes.

I could hold forth on the relative merits of this DVD's entertainment value--you get to see some weird incarnations of various prominent actors, James Spader looking particularly weird; not that many flicks set in Oklahoma these days; Joanna Going carried the film, etc. etc.--but instead I think I'll criticize the DVD itself. First off, it has exactly ONE "special feature" (production stills, at that!). Furthermore, not only does this disc lack the extended cut (missing 3 minutes, this is just the R-rated version), it is also, most pathetically of all, full-frame only. Come on! This is a 2002 release of a **1997** film, and somehow they couldn't manage a widescreen edition. Has the distributor already been repossessed or something? It's DVDs like this that make me doubt for the future of the medium. Get with the program, Artisan!

I bought this movie because I collect movies with Cameron Diaz and I can say it was disapointing. She appears during one minute at the beginning and never again!
I didn't find any interest in the story, and I was yawning all the time. How boring can this be?

the story is boring and stupid, the actors act very bad, except Cameron Diaz, but we only see her 5 minutes.

I could hold forth on the relative merits of this DVD's entertainment value--you get to see some weird incarnations of various prominent actors, James Spader looking particularly weird; not that many flicks set in Oklahoma these days; Joanna Going carried the film, etc. etc.--but instead I think I'll criticize the DVD itself. First off, it has exactly ONE "special feature" (production stills, at that!). Furthermore, not only does this disc lack the extended cut (missing 3 minutes, this is just the R-rated version), it is also, most pathetically of all, full-frame only. Come on! This is a 2002 release of a **1997** film, and somehow they couldn't manage a widescreen edition. Has the distributor already been repossessed or something? It's DVDs like this that make me doubt for the future of the medium. Get with the program, Artisan!