"Miller comes at film with bracing intelligence and a vision both painterly and literary." Erica Abeel FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "Delia, Greta, and Paula rank as three of the most multilayered and sympathetic female characters of the year. As each of them searches for their place in the world, Miller digs into their very minds to find an unblinking, flawed humanity." Dustin Putman THEMOVIEBOY.COM "The acting is uniformly excellent, with Kyra Sedgwick and Fairuza Balk in particular deserving to be singled out for praise." James Berardinelli REELVIEWS "In this involving film of three decidedly different women, filmmaker Rebecca Miller has distilled some gripping character portraits." Duane Byrge HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "With each of her three protagonists, Miller eloquently captures the moment when a woman's life, out of a deep-seated, emotional need, is about to turn onto a different path." Annlee Ellingson, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE

"Expands the limits of what a film can be, taking us into the lives of women to whom we might not give a second look if we passed them on the street." Marshall Fine JOURNAL NEWS "Together, Miller, Kuras and the actresses make Personal Velocity into an intricate, intimate and intelligent journey." Duane Dudek MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL "All three actresses are simply dazzling, particularly Balk, who's finally been given a part worthy of her considerable talents." Ken Fox TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE "This beautifully realized film retains the essential qualities of short fiction: precision, compactness, a focus on epiphanic moments." Eric Harrison, HOUSTON CHRONICLE "A movie that sets certain strict parameters for itself in terms of time, dramatic focus and technique, and then works modest but striking wonders within those self-imposed limitations." Geoff Pevere TORONTO STAR

At A Glance

"Even when the movie is over, the psychological physics of Personal Velocity will remain in your head." Elvis Mitchell NEW YORK TIMES

If there's one thing that lets "Personal Velocity" down it is that glaringly fractured third act featuring Fairuza Balk. Not to say that there's anything wrong with Balks performance I must say, for, like the other actresses in this trilogy of stories centred on the lives of three women, Delia, Greta and Paula, Balk puts in a terrific performance. The problem is that the final story is just crap. Perhaps the reason is because when Rebecca Miller was writing the screenplay she only had the first two stories for her book "Personal Velocity" and wrote the final act while still working on her book of short stories. "I was in the process of writing and I sent Gary two of the short stories, 'Delia' and 'Greta', I had written for the book", Miller says. "I needed another story for the book," she continued, "and then wrote 'Paula', the only story for which I had both the film and book in mind." And that may have been why that last act is such a tragedy. The final scenes of Paula tripping the light fantastic towards the railway station corrupts the beauty and demonstratively powerful performance which preceed it. So is "Personal Velocity" lost because of one gigantic blunder? No, not really, but it does lower the level of recommendation one would give the film. Two out of three ain't bad, but it isn't good either if you want to satisfy an audience who have parted with their hard earned bucks at the ticket office. It just isn't good value. Or is it?
Me thinks that a lot of 'indie' film fans may just get enough out of this film on the decision making processes used by three women to better their lives. The speed at which they make those decisions, given their situation, is their own "Personal Velocity". Rebecca Miller describes it as "a kind of cocktail of personal choice and destiny. That's personal velocity, the thing that hurls us through life or we hurl ourselves, the combination of choice and other elements, history, family or a mythical element, that unseen hand that moves us along." Adding, "What clustered these three particular stories for me is their explorations of personal velocity. Each of the women are fleeing their situation and entering another." Perhaps the three actresses featured in Millers "Personal Velocity" best describe the situation of each woman as they see it. "Delia is a character I've never played before", says Kyra Sedgwick, "a woman who has been beaten by her husband for the last twelve years and, after the last fight, makes a decision to leave and take her three kids with her. She's a woman who's lost everything, but mostly her power. I don't know anyone in the same place Delia is, but I've read and seen a lot on women who find themselves in similar situations, why they stay and what that's all about." Miller was struk by Sedgwiicks role in "Something To Talk About". "I was particularly overcome by her directness", Miller says. "Delia has to be physically attractive, but also very tough. Kyra was perfect."
"I loved the script when I first read it," says Parker Posey. "I was really moved by it. It's great to read something you can relate to. I remeber that journey from my late 20's to early 30's, which is what Greta's experiencing. It's a period in your life when you're still not very concious of what you are doing. Greta is complicated becuase of how many contradictory signals she has given off. She's often in conflict with herself." Posey was cast for the part because Miller felt "she was one of the few actors who could pull it off."
Fairuza Balk says of her charcter Paula, "My character is a young woman who is thrust into total crisis, everything that can go wrong for her does. She feels everything around her is a sign and it all has some kind of meaning. Throughout the story, Paula struggles to figure out how it all comes together and what it means." On playing Paula she says, "I found the role very challenging because Paula is extremely internal. It was even shot like a dream sequence." On Balk, Miller says she "has a very special quality that is difficult to pinpoint. She is very real, rock solid. You can impose the most poetic material on her and she won't let go of her reality."
"Personal Velocity" is Directed by Rebecca Miller ["Regarding Henry", "Concenting Adults" and "Angela" ] and stars Kyra Sedgwick ["What's Cooking", "Phenomenon" and "Something To Talk About"], Parker Posey ["Suburbia", "You've Got Mail", "The Sweetest Thing" and "A Mighty Wind"], Fairuza Balk ["Almost Famous", "The Waterboy", "Return To Oz" and "American History X"], David Warshofsky ["Welcome To Collinwood", "The Bone Collector" and "Don't Say A Word"] and Ron Leibman ["Zorro The Gay Blade", "Phar Lap", "Hostile Wtness" and "Dummy"]. The Story

"Makes you feel like you're reading a great compendium of short stories in which vibrant images literally burst from the pages." Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS

Delia has put up with twelve years in an abusive marriage. Finally, after a beating from Kurt, she finds the strength to leave him, to flee to somewhere safe. Greta is an editor racked by ambition and struggling with issues of fidelity. Her husband Lee, though loving, is dull and boring. Her vows of fidelity are being stretched to breaking point. Paula is 21, pregnant and has just survived a near death experience. All three women have come to a point in their life where they must make decisions as to their future. Decisions that they are comfortable with. Decisions that will set them on a course at their own "Personal Velocity." The Verdict "Two out of three stories work well but it's not quite enough to lift "Personal Velocity" to a level where one could suggest it's a 'must see' indie production. Worthwhile? Yes, if only to see three actresses working well in very demanding roles. Middle of the road experience at the most." The Cast

Kyra Sedgwick Parker Posey Fairuza Balk David Warshofsky Leo Fitzpatrick Tim Guinee Patti D'Arbanville Ben Shenkman Joel de la Fuente Marceline Hugot Brian Tarantina Seth Gilliam Josh Phillip Weinstein Lou Taylor Pucci Mara Hobel Wallace Shawn Ron Leibman David Patrick Kelly Nick Cubbler Nicole Murphy

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Delia Greta Paula Kurt Wurtzle Mylert Lee Celia Max Thavi Matola Pam Pete Shunt Vincent Oscar Kevin Fay Mr Gelb Avram Peter John Wurtzle May Wurtzl

The Crew Directed by Rebecca Miller Narrated by John Ventimiglia Screenplay by Nicholas Griffin & Ted Griffin Written by Rebecca Miller Original Music by Michael Rohatyn Cinematography by Ellen Kuras Film Editing by Sabine Hoffmann Casting by Cindy Tolan Production Design by Judy Becker Set Decoration by Maus Drechsler & Heather Loeffler Costume Design by Marie Abma Production Manager Gwen Bialic Run Time 86 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2003 - United Artists - All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2003 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved