The Guitar (2007)

33% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(962 ratings)

A doomed woman discovers her creative spirit during a final fling with life in this independent drama. Melody Wilder (Saffron Burrows) is already having a bad day when she visits her doctor about a troubling lump in her throat -- her boyfriend has left her, and she's lost her job. However, this news… More A doomed woman discovers her creative spirit during a final fling with life in this independent drama. Melody Wilder (Saffron Burrows) is already having a bad day when she visits her doctor about a troubling lump in her throat -- her boyfriend has left her, and she's lost her job. However, this news pales in comparison to what her doctor (Janeane Garofalo) has to say: the lump is an inoperable cancer, and Melody has only a short time to live. Throwing caution to the wind, Melody rents a huge, luxurious apartment and furnishes it in high style, putting her purchases on a handful of credit cards she won't be around to pay off. Melody also permits herself affairs with a few of the deliverymen who have become regular visitors to her loft, but she spends most her days alone, enjoying the trappings of wealth as she ponders what little future she has left. One day, Melody makes an impulse purchase, a red electric guitar that looks like one she wanted as a girl. While Melody isn't schooled on the instrument, she begins teaching herself to work out chord patterns and melody lines, and in the last chapter of her life discovers a way to give voice to the pain and confusion she's buried within her. Written by veteran underground filmmaker Amos Poe, The Guitar was the first feature film from director Amy Redford. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Amy Redford
Written By: Amos Poe
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 7, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Feb 10, 2009
Studio: Lightning Media

Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The Guitar is a lark, at best, but when Burrows' healing indulgence extends to taking on lovers of both sexes, its goofiness acquires a certain hedonistic charm.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
[A] bizarre art-house equiva lent of The Bucket Lisy.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
That the movie is easy on the eyes (Melody's fetching silhouette against those sunset river views) doesn't make it any less bogus.
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
Some new directors often opt for minimalism in the hope that less is more. This doesn't work for Amy Redford (Robert's daughter), who transitions from actress to filmmaker with The Guitar.
Rex Reed, New York Observer
Written by Amos Poe and directed with moxie by Amy Redford, it's the ultimate movie about optimism.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
Interesting only in showing how tin-eared scriptwriting (by Amos Poe) can make 2008 New York City seem less familiar than 1952 Japan.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
We've probably all wondered what we'd do if given a few short months to live and the premise of The Guitar takes one self indulgent option
Sara Maria Vizcarrondo, Boxoffice Magazine
A strong, kind-hearted start to a hopefully active career [for director Amy Redford].
David Noh, Film Journal International
An interesting premise is weakened by directorial callowness, tonal uncertainty and an unengaging central performance.
Marcy Dermansky, About.com
I was seduced by Melody's story. Sucked in, enjoying Amy Redford's film despite myself.
Mark Peikert, New York Press
After spending 45 of the movie's 95 minutes in an orgy of consumerism, The Guitar suddenly speeds up its tempo and begins bombarding us with plot developments.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
The movie has more clichéd rebirths in mind, and you'll resent where it goes.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Without its weirdo visual flourishes, The Guitar would be completely reprehensible.
Zack Haddad, Film Threat
To be brutally honest, there are many other things I would rather do with my final days than sit through this clichéd mess all over again.
Patrick Z. McGavin, Screen International
Saffron Burrows is commanding as a distraught woman who finds a novel way to cope with tragedy, but the movie constantly subverts realistic detail with the fantastic in ways that are not dramatically satisfying.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

Well, here ya go. This would be me in a nut shell if I found out that I only had 30-60 days left to live.....that is, if I didn't have kids and a husband that would have to inherit my debt. This girl totally decided to live out her dream before it was too late. I can't even… More
Well, here ya go. This would be me in a nut shell if I found out that I only had 30-60 days left to live.....that is, if I didn't have kids and a husband that would have to inherit my debt. This girl totally decided to live out her dream before it was too late. I can't even imagine a better way to go out. Nice little twist there at the end. It probably doesn't hurt that I am a sucker for a decent music inspired film.
Red L

What would you do if on the same day you get laid off, your boyfriend decides to dump you and you are told you have cancer and only a month or two to live? This movie presents one response. Makes you think.
Lewis C

I thought that The Guitar was a pretty swell movie. I usually hate movies about people who suddenly find out that they're dying, and then finally start to live their lives when their lives are about to be taken from them. But The Guitar handles this kind of a story in an organic,… More
I thought that The Guitar was a pretty swell movie. I usually hate movies about people who suddenly find out that they're dying, and then finally start to live their lives when their lives are about to be taken from them. But The Guitar handles this kind of a story in an organic, modernistic manner that doesn't rely on sappiness or melodrama to connect the audience to the protagonist. Saffron Burrows does a marvelous job. Her facial expressions almost tell the story well enough to preclude any dialogue on her part. There are other fine acting jobs here, but they all drift on the periphery of Saffron's excellent performance. It's nice to find a movie from time to time that I like despite my reservations. I'm not the kind of guy who would typically be interested in this genre of movie, but The Guitar was more than enough to get me to overlook that particular bias.
Walter M

"The Guitar" starts with Melody Wilder(Saffron Burrows) being diagnosed with inoperable cancer by her doctor(Janeane Garofalo) and given probably a month to live. To add insult to a terminal diagnosis, she is laid off and dumped by her boyfriend(Reg Rogers) in quick… More
"The Guitar" starts with Melody Wilder(Saffron Burrows) being diagnosed with inoperable cancer by her doctor(Janeane Garofalo) and given probably a month to live. To add insult to a terminal diagnosis, she is laid off and dumped by her boyfriend(Reg Rogers) in quick succession. While contemplating a shortcut to oblivion, she instead notices an ad for a short-term luxury apartment to which she sinks her savings and severance check into. "The Guitar" is a modest movie that is buoyed by a very fine performance from Saffron Burrows. Most people with little time left to live might be inclined to travel to a sunny beach somewhere but Melody is a New Yorker and a New Yorker's perfect fantasy is a spacious apartment. And that's not the only fantasy explored here. But after a while, it becomes clear that there are only two directions this movie can go in. In the end, it chooses the wrong path which leads the story to become more preposterous as it goes on as fantasy becomes more the rule than any reality.
Ed Fucking H

I don't know what this movie was trying to prove, except maybe that ownership of material things is the answer to all lifes problems. Sentimental bullshit. Even a lesbian scene with Paz de la Huerta can't save this corny abomination. Sucks. That is all.
Daisy M

The transformation of a woman after she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, fired from her thankless job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she blows her savings and maxes out her credit cards to pursue her dreams, which include romance and learning to play… More
The transformation of a woman after she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, fired from her thankless job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she blows her savings and maxes out her credit cards to pursue her dreams, which include romance and learning to play the electric guitar. <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view&current=07guitarxlarge11.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/07guitarxlarge11.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Its a good film however the message this film makes is very disturbing, especially the way the film ends. When she doesn't die in the 2 months she was told she visits her doctor again only to find out that she has miraculously been cured. Her cancer has gone into remission and she is no longer sick and no longer dying and here in lies the saddest part about this films message, as the doctors attributes her miraculous recovery to the way she lived the last couple months and the changes she made. In other words shopping & learning the guitar saved her life. (hilarious) sorry!! I have so many problems with this that I really wouldn't even know where to begin to describe it. ( so I better not) Final verdict: thumbs down. Even if you don't share my guitar arrogancy , I don't think the film has much to offer beyond a decent performance from Burrows. ( I bet the guys would love to watch her all naked in the film) lol and the sex scenes were pretty good. (loved them).!! It's pretty standard what would you do if you were told you had only a couple months to live - stuff. <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view&current=thG.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/thG.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>