Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2001)
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69% of critics liked it
(100 reviews) -
60% of users liked it
(2,646 ratings)
Three women whose lives have followed very different paths ponder their pasts and their futures in this omnibus film from second-time director Rebecca Miller, adapted from her acclaimed short story collection of the same name. Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) grew up in a fractured household; her mother… More Three women whose lives have followed very different paths ponder their pasts and their futures in this omnibus film from second-time director Rebecca Miller, adapted from her acclaimed short story collection of the same name. Delia (Kyra Sedgwick) grew up in a fractured household; her mother abandoned the family when Delia was a child, and her father (Brian Tarantina) was a drug-addled loser who could barely be prodded off the couch. When she entered adolescence, Delia realized that she could use her body to get men to do as she pleased. While this gained her a feeling of power and self-sufficiency, it also earned her a reputation as the "class slut," and the end product was her marriage to Kurt (David Warshofsky). Greta (Parker Posey) is the daughter of a successful lawyer (Ron Leibman) who left her mother when she was young and offered Greta criticism rather than affection. Plagued with self-doubt, Greta is squandering her literary talents editing cookbooks and is married to Lee (Tim Guinee. When Thavi (Joel de la Fuente), a respected and successful young novelist, asks Greta to edit his next novel, it forces her to reassess herself on a number of levels. Finally, Paula (Fairuza Balk), yet another product of a fractured family, ran away from her mother and was homeless until she met Vincent (Seth Gilliam), who took her in and became her boyfriend. A year later, Paula is uncertain in her feelings about Vincent, unsettled to learn that she's pregnant, and startled after witnessing a murder while out clubbing with a friend; she hits the road again, and soon picks up a fellow alienated teen, Kevin (Lou Taylor Pucci), who bears the scars of a recent -- and very brutal -- beating. Personal Velocity: Three Portraits was honored with the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Rebecca Miller
- Written By
- Rebecca Miller
- Genres
- Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 2002 Wide
- Studio
- United Artists
Critic Reviews
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Very psychoanalytical -- provocatively so -- and also refreshingly literary.
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Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
This beautifully realized film retains the essential qualities of short fiction: precision, compactness, a focus on epiphanic moments.
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Steven Rosen, Denver Post
These are complex characters.
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Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
It accumulates small details that gradually create a feeling of narrative intimacy.
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Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three exquisite boutique films whose impact is much larger than many movies five times their size.
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Cast
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John Ventimiglia
as Narrator
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Kyra Sedgwick
as Delia
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David Warshofsky
as Kurt
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Brian Tarantina
as Pete
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Mara Hobel
as Fay
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Leo Fitzpatrick
as Mylert
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Parker Posey
as Greta
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Tim Guinee
as Lee
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Wallace Shawn
as Mr. Gelb
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Joel de la Fuente
as Thavi
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Ron Liebman
as Avram
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Josh Phillip Weinstein
as Oscar
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Ben Shenkman
as Max
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Fairuza Balk
as Paula
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Lou Taylor Pucci
as Kevin
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Seth Gilliam
as Vincent
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David Patrick Kelly
as Peter
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Patti D'Arbanville
as Celia
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Susan Blommaert
as Mrs. Toron
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Bill Burns
as Court Steps Reporter
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Tim Hopper
as Mr Brown the Adventist
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Marceline Hugot
as Pam
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Ron Leibman
as Avram Herskovitz
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Brian Bell
as Playwright
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Michi Barall
as Felicia Wong
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Peter Galman
as Man in His 50's
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Christopher Fitzgerald
as Greg
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Nick Cubbler
as John Wurtzle
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Nicole Murphy
as May Wurtzle
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Sarah Morf
as Claire Wurtzle
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Laura Finelli
as Young Delia
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Dean Strange
as Norwegian Man
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Maria Elena Ramirez
as News Reporter
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Angela Trento
as Lola
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Danielle Tagger
as Marla
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Tony Osso
as Waiter
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Monica Paskiewicz
as Mimi
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Quentin Mare
as Darius
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Kaluska Poventud
as Maroushka
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Francis Akins
as Jesse
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Jennifer Lent
as Young Fay
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Lynne Anne Hart
as Mylert's Mother
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Eileen Stancage
as Old Woman
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Corinne Brownsell
as Dunkin Donuts Cashier
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Eleanor Niel
as Girl on Swing
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Stephi Licciardi
as Girl on Swing
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Samantha Steinel
as Girl on Swing
