The City of Your Final Destination

O James Ivory! You would have made Ismail Merchant proud! O City of Your Final Destination! What are you about? Nostalgia? Longing? Jealousy? Heartache? Such sad things to ponder among your idyllic settings. What shall I praise first – your expert set and wardrobe design? Your superb cinematography? Your extraordinary cast? I’m out of adjectives. Let’s begin with cast.

O Anthony Hopkins! I was beginning to have such doubt. I saw The Wolfman and I thought, maybe he has Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer type. Maybe he’s throwing in the towel. But you are not demented. You are as ingenious an actor as you always were. There is something a little Hannibal Lecter about this role – I can’t put my finger on it precisely. It’s elegance punctuated by a dark hunger. O you and Hiroyuki Sanada are so precious together.

Laura Linney you are looking glamorous these days! Most movies they put you in a frumpy sweater. They put you in charge of a child or a profoundly retarded adult. Not that you can’t achieve sexiness in that. But usually you’re mom-sexy and not cougar-sexy. Here you’re kind of mean-sexy which is one of my favorite kinds.

O Charlotte Gainsbourg. You’re so charming! Even when you look sleepy and emaciated. I can’t help it – I want you around at dinnertime. I want to feed you.

What else is there to say? Amazing score. Unpredictable humor. Champagne and cigarettes. Bees. You have it all . . . $9

If you heart The City of Your Final Destination:

Recommendations by DJ Cheet
The Last Station
Babette’s Feast
Hirokazu Koreeda’s After Life