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Empire Falls
List Price: $19.98Our Price: $14.99 You Save: $4.99 (25%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780783134901
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0783134908
Item Dimensions: 35
Label: Hbo Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language),
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
MPN: D92753D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Hbo Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 13, 2005
Running Time: 195 minutes
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: May 28, 2005
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Editorial Review:
A frame-bursting roster of actors crowds this two-part HBO miniseries, which is nothing less than a look at America through the lens of a small New England town. Richard Russo adapted his own novel, a story of a gently depressed factory town that has always been run by the wealthiest family around (currently lorded over by matriarch Joanne Woodward). Ed Harris plays the central role, a decent, cautious man who runs a local diner and carefully negotiates the political niceties of Empire Falls; Paul Newman is his rapscallion of a father (the son is perpetually picking food out of Dad's beard), Helen Hunt is Harris's ex-wife, Aidan Quinn his feistier brother, and Robin Wright Penn his tragical mother seen in flashbacks.
The goal of Russo and director Fred Schepisi seems to have been fidelity to the novel, which gives the film a pleasingly relaxed pace but also a somewhat literal-minded binding. Even that doesn't explain the general lack of tautness, or why so much of the dialogue has an awkward fit in actors' mouths. Harris and Newman, of course, are younger and older versions of American monuments, and their sheer presence goes a long way toward making the picture work (for the premium Newman-Russo match, see Robert Benton's sublime film of Nobody's Fool). Most of the twists in the final reels are genuinely affecting, and the movie has the courage to end on a mild note rather than strain to tie everything up. It's a fitting finale for an unassuming enterprise. --Robert Horton
Adapted by author Richard Russo from his 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning novel EMPIRE FALLS is a portrait of the gritty drama and human comedy that make up everyday life in blue-collar America. On a daily basis goodhearted restaurant manager Miles Roby (Ed Harris "Glengarry Glen Ross") tries to keep his Empire Grill going even as the wealthy and powerful Mrs. Whiting(Joanne Woodward "Philadelphia") makes life difficult for him. If that wasn't enough Miles has to keep tabs on his scoundrel of a dad Max (Paul Newman "The Color of Money") who is always looking for trouble. But Miles has something much bigger than just restaurant receipts and a cantankerous father on his mind-he can't shake the ghosts of his past that keep his fate inevitably connected to Empire Falls.Running Time: 180 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359275326
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - An excellent story and production
I love Richard Russo's stories and this one is outstanding. The production values are also outstanding, and it's fun to see old favorites like Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, Aidan Quinn, Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman strutting their stuff.
Rating: - Remarkable Cast of Characters
In this HBO miniseries of Richard Russo's novel, Ed Harris plays an unpretentious restaurant manger that shows us his life within a small economically depressed Maine town. While trying to keep the doors of the Empire Grill open, he must deal with an ever increasing cast of characters - from Joanne Woodward, the town matriarch to Paul Newman - his curmudgeonly wayward father, to his ex-wife Helen Hunt (who does not pull off the accent very well). Ed Harris shows the traumas and realities of his ... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful Cast & Story -- Don't Miss!
Missed this when it originally aired on HBO. Living in Maine, I had to see it. It follows the book very well, which BTW is also a good read.
The cast of Empire makes Russo's novel come to life. Ed Harris as Miles Roby is just how you'd picture him. Many memorable scenes by Joanne Woodward (Francine Whiting) and Paul Newman (Max Roby) add just the right amount of humor. The other actors play their roles convincingly. Helen Hunt's character reminds me a bit of Carol in As Good as ... Read More
Rating:  - The book is so much better
Sometimes movies measure up to books, as in Somerset Maugham's The Painted Veil. Sometimes movies may be even better than padded and chatty novels, as for example in Oblomov. But in the present case, the movie version of Empire Falls is all wrong. As one reviewer has already pointed out, the movie is too sunny whereas the book is dark, pessimistic, and sometimes despairing. The slow, maudlin music is distracting and misleading. The views are boring. And the pace of the whole thing is painfully slow ... Read More
Rating: - The Stories from a Small Town
"Empire Falls" (2005) is a screen adaptation of Richard Russo Pulitzer prize winning novel of the same title. It is a multi character drama that takes place in a small town Empire Falls, Maine. In its center if Miles Roby (Ed Harris) who manages the local restaurant, "Empire Grill" that belongs to a wealthy and powerful widow Mrs. Whiting. The film concerns Miles's re-evaluating his life and searching for answers to the difficult questions. In his search, he looks back at his childhood, his relationship ... Read More
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