Trust me

I saw this one when I was working in a small movie theater as a student back in 1991 in Leuven, Belgium. I cannot explain why but this little gem of a movie touched me and I fell in love with all the characters (specially the main ones played by Adrienne Shelly and Martin Donovan), the modest soundtrack (loved the synthesizer score at the end), the dialogs, the humor mixed with social and realistic situations. Now, 23 years later, I had the chance to rediscover this movie by accident through a local internet movie site and honestly, after having seen hundreds of movies in all genres during the passed years, it still remains my favorite movie of all times. Thank you, Mr Hartley! One from the heart!

I first saw 'Trust' in 1991 in an outdoor cinema tent at Glastonbury Festival. I came in late, had no idea of the title, the plot, or had a clue who any of the actors were, but from the second I sat down I was in love. The style of it, the characters, the story, but above all the dialogue changed the way I thought about movies forever. Later, when I got interesting in writing for TV and film those ideas continued to shape me. I love deadpan humour, lengthy soliloquies that read like Beckett and I love love LOVE stories about simple people and small lives. They will always be the realest, the deepest felt and the most heartwarming of all. 24 years (and a hell of a lot of movies) later, 'Trust' still remains one of my favourites. I felt genuinely bereft when Adrienne Shelley was murdered, especially since 'Waitress' had also made it into my top twenty. I continue to seek out movies like 'Trust' that stick in my soul and never de-tangle. And I thank God for Hal Hartley every Thanksgiving.

I stumbled across this movie about midway through on IFC one morning...I was hooked! I couldn't look away. I had to see it from the beginning, all the way through, as it was meant to be viewed. I studied the IFC programming schedule well into the future in order to see this movie again. Eventually I did. Several times. And even now I'm still haunted by it. Some films don't stand up to repeated viewings very well however this one does. This movie has moved me as much as any movie ever has in my life. Do a friend a favor, turn em on to this one, but don't tell them ANYTHING about it beforehand(need that really be said?), let em experience it for themselves. My next goal is to own this movie in some form or another one day. It'll be a welcome addition to my collection.

A father drops dead after arguing with his daughter, who's pregnant. In another house a grown man is still living at home with his father and can't clean the bathroom to suit him. Together these stories come together with vivid reality, almost too much so. Despite the feeling they seem to be getting nowhere and fast, its mature take on people's troubles and the way the two leads connect make for an intelligent and engrossing film. I don't know if I would really want to see it again, but the more the viewer thinks about it after wards, you realize just how much it makes an impression on you. The viewer is really invested in these people and that's a credit to the writers and makers of this film, which stars Adrienne Shelley and Martin Donovan and a young Edie Falco, before The Sopranos. If you want a real slice of life with an ending that's not really an ending, but just the beginning of another stage, watch this and learn about "Trust."