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Two Weeks (2006)

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12 comments in total

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18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Audience Loved It, 28 February 2007

Author: bobrivers from United States

I read some bad reviews, but saw this film at a sneak preview with an audience that laughed out loud, some cried, and many stood in the lobby talking about it afterward. Sally Field puts it all on screen, and I've actually lived and felt many of the awkward experiences the humor is based on. I remember how difficult it was to suddenly be right back with my Brothers and Sisters dealing with the finality of what was about to happen. This movie captures that perfectly. At the same time, once you face it, you have to live, laugh, talk, and take care of details. A lot of the experiences in Two Weeks are so common to everyone, but NEVER really talked about.

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18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Really touched by this movie, 4 January 2007

Author: jbalter-2 from United States

I had the opportunity to preview this movie in New York City and I was very touched by the performances. It made me laugh, cry and sometimes both at the same time. I was very impressed by the actors and I thought they accurately portrayed what a family would go thru if they were losing a loved one. I think if anyone has ever had to live thru losing a loved one they will appreciate the honesty of this film. I hope it gets to theaters so others can experience this film. I especially thought Sally Field was at her best with a flawless performance. I also really enjoyed seeing Tom Cavanagh on the big screen since I was a huge fan of the TV show Ed. Ben Chaplin and Julianne Nicholson were both great and give heart to this film.

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15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
"Two Weeks" takes you from laughter to tears and back again, 23 February 2007

Author: drdowrite from NYC, USA

I saw "Two Weeks" at the Hampton Film Festival in a packed theater. While "Two Weeks" is a serious film about a family going through a tragic experience, it is also very funny and true. Stockman, who wrote and directed the film, manages to capture the humor and emotion of a family as they cope with of the impending loss of their mother. It is a brave and honest film. Sally Field is wonderful as the strong and funny matriarch who stares death down. Her performance is powerful and complex. Ben Chaplin, Tom Cavanaugh and Julianne Nicholson deliver honest and subtle performances. They truly seem like a family sharing all of the affection, sorrow and conflict you would expect of siblings going through such a difficult experience. The film is funny and moving. I will be going to see it again when it opens in NYC on March 2nd.

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16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderful dramedy, 8 December 2006
Author: imdbob-2 from NYC

Saw this film at an exclusive NYC advance screening presented by Gen Art, with the writer/director present, and I gotta say: if you've ever lost a loved one, this film will have you nodding in remembrance. If you've yet to lose a loved one...it's a good primer on how to handle it.

Great performances all around, and I liked the way the film expertly balances comedy with drama. It's a fact of life that we all have to deal with this subject sometime...and a film like this deserves attention because it's one of the few to tackle a delicate subject with grace and humor.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderful, sweet film, 2 March 2007

Author: betsyd02 from United States

This is truly representative of what losing a loved one feels like--of course, sad. But, there is an element of humor, reaching for relief while recognizing in utter submission, our own mortality. And, of course, there is anger.

This film is worth seeing. It was sweet and a wonderful tribute to a family going through a phase of life that we all will see.

Sallie Fields and all the actors did a fantastic job. Thank you for making a film that means something. No car chases, but meaningful words and great acting.

The R rating seems to be very harsh compared to the language.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Death as an Exodus and an Epiphany, 22 September 2007

Author: gradyharp from United States

TWO WEEKS may put a lot of viewers off as it deals confrontationally with the issues of death and dying and yet finds the very human humor that always serves as a relief sidebar in stories (and life incidents) such as this. Steve Stockman wrote, directed and produced this little film and his inspiration and efforts are well served by a fine ensemble cast. It is a story about dying and the effects the finality of that event have on a family that has dispersed in different directions life.

Anita Bergman (a phenomenally effective Sally Field) is under hospice care as she faces her last days of dying from gastrointestinal cancer. Knowing that she has little time left she calls upon her four children to return home to North Carolina for goodbyes. Her children are a mixed lot: Keith (Ben Chaplin) is a Zen-influenced California man who has decided to video his mother for posterity; Barry (Thomas Cavanagh) is a workaholic who attempts to piece together time for this inconvenient disruption in his work routine; Matthew (Glenn Howerton) is the baby of the family dominated by a tactless wife whom the rest of the family detest; Emily (a luminous Julianne Nicholson) is the sole sister who has collected all the books on the dying process for her brothers' education and is the stalwart one who holds the family together. Anita divorced the children's father and remarried a quiet man Jim (James Murtaugh) who is essentially ignored or tolerated by the children. Anita shares memories, both tender and hilarious, about her life with her family, and as the hospice nurse Carol (Michael Hyatt) tenderly leads the children through the instructions regarding final care, the four bond again, become more accepting of their disparate directions, share some very funny conversations to relieve the gloom of the event, and interact more than they have since childhood. By the time of the inevitable event come each of the children and their current father have found vulnerabilities and expanded the tokens of love left to them by Anita, now able to carry out Anita's wishes with a modicum of grace and a lot of warmth.

Using the last two weeks of life as a platform for coming together provides the film ample opportunity to address many issues - marriage, children, family, religion, and individuality. The film is balanced by the superb performance of Sally Field on the one end and the wholly realized characterization by Julianne Nicholson on the other end. In many ways it is the continuity between the lives of these two women that make the story memorable. There are some fine lessons to be heard in this film, and the telling of the story is very satisfying to watch. Grady Harp

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Sad that it didn't get theater dist. Ridiculous R rating, 12 October 2007

Author: scotpond from Syracuse, NY

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The R Rating is totally uncalled for. It's a really long, tough look at what it's like to sit through a dying parent's last days and the roles people take on in this situation. Some may call it cliché but that's life and death. I've seen every one of the personalities depicted - even the Rabi! The quick move from limited theater release to DVD is strange. Usually the star appears on a few talk shows and plugs the movie. Sally seemed tied up with "Brothers and Sisters" when the movie went into limited showing. I think the movie distributors were afraid of it. What a shame that a movie like this isn't getting full play in theaters. Does this mean Sally won't have any chance at Oscar nomination for her work? I think it's a symptom of our inability to deal with death in America. Trivia - Sally Fields' son attended Syracuse University.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Fantastic! Ever So Real, 8 October 2007

Author: trkngrany from United States

This movie was done so well. I have lived it 3 times over now in my own life with family members, it was like watching us. The Director did a great job putting it all together, Sally Fields did a fantastic job, everyone played it well. I would recommend families to watch this movie when they've gone thru what it's about, because then you realize just how Real and natural your situation and how you all acted in real life just like others have. It's hard to prepare for this situation in life, but once you've been thru it, it's a little easier to help others thru it the next time around. I really liked the Special Features that's real important to see. As I said in the beginning, I feel like I have 'lived' this movie. It's hard to write anymore comments about the movie without giving it away, all I want to say is that it's a 'Must See' movie.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny, warm, touching, and deeply moving..., 15 May 2008

Author: Isaac5855 from United States

TWO WEEKS is a quietly exquisite, deeply moving, and surprisingly hopeful drama centered on some very unpleasant subject matter. Writer and director Steve Stockman struck gold with this story of four adult siblings (Ben Chaplin, Julianne Nicholson, Tom Cavanaugh, Glenn Howerton)who return to their hometown in North Carolina to be at the bedside of their mother (beautifully played by Sally Field), who is dying of ovarian cancer. This drama of the family's final time together is juxtaposed with a videotaped interview with Mom done by the eldest son (Chaplin) as sort of a final tribute to his mom before she gets too sick to remember things she wants to pass on.This film offers surprises at every turn because it is more than the "sturm und drang" one would expect from such a story. Stockman puts a very human face on the subject of death and dying and because it is human, there is humor involved. There are laughs to be found here and they aren't the kind of laughs where you wonder whether or not being amused is appropriate. These are odd little moments throughout the film that we can all relate to...like one brother finding the cowboy sheets that were on his childhood bed and stashing them to take with him, or dealing with the problem of all the casseroles that well-intentioned friends and neighbors stuff the refrigerator with, or arguing with your siblings over the things Mom wants you to have and nobody wants. The direction is a little static, but the screenplay has a deft quality to it and the performances are uniformly first-rate, with standout work from Field and Chaplin. A very special film experience...treat yourself.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
One has to wonder, "why was this movie made?", 25 March 2008
Author: TxMike from Houston, Tx, USA, Earth

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

There isn't anything actually "wrong" with this movie, "2 Weeks", but by the same token, it is hard to find anything "right" about it. While all the actors are good here, the story doesn't seem to have a point other than how 4 grown children might get back together while they wait for their 60-something mother to die.

I have always liked Sally Field, all the way back to her days on TV as the "Flying Nun." Here she is good as Anita Bergman, diagnosed with ovarian cancer. One of the symptoms of dying by her particular cancer is the inability to eat, because her intestinal tract is apparently blocked. So she has to be fed through her veins. She is not totally bedridden, but she is confined to her home.

There is an attempt to lighten the mood when Anita sees all the others eating ribs and wants some too. So she chews the meat, and then spits it out after chewing it. So, around the table everyone else chews their food and then spits it out. That scene didn't work for me, it didn't make the movie any better.

Ben Chaplin is her older son, a filmmaker who earlier had filmed Anita as he asked her questions, to save for posterity. His character is Keith Bergman. Tom Cavanagh of TV's "Ed" fame is the next brother Barry Bergman. The lone sister is Julianne Nicholson as Emily Bergman. And the youngest, with the young wife from hell, is Glenn Howerton as Matthew Bergman.

So much of the movie was to see how 4 adult siblings might handle being together for their mother's last 14 days. Marginally interesting, but when I asked my wife what was the message, she answered, "I don't really know." I could not recommend this movie to friends.

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