Plot
A drama that details the story of a woman's difficult relationship with her stepson.

Release Year: 2009

Rating: 6.3/10 (5,355 voted)

Critic's Score: 37/100

Director: Don Roos

Stars: Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Lisa Kudrow

Storyline
In Manhattan, twenty-two year-old Harvard lawyer Emilia Greenleaf has a crush on her boss, Jack Woolf, and they have an affair. Jack's marriage is a sham but his son, William, is his pride and joy. Emilia soon discovers she's pregnant, and Jack divorces his wife, Carolyn, in order to marry her. His son is poisoned against the partnership by his mother, and resented by his stepmother. Emilia, who has issues with her womanizer father, delivers Isabel but the baby dies. The marriage begins to suffer and William unexpectedly steps in to help.

Writers: Don Roos, Ayelet Waldman

Cast:
Natalie Portman - Emilia Greenleaf
Scott Cohen - Jack
Lisa Kudrow - Carolyn
Charlie Tahan - William
Lauren Ambrose - Mindy
Michael Cristofer - Sheldon
Debra Monk - Laura
Mona Lerche - Sonia
Anthony Rapp - Simon
Kendra Kassebaum - Sharlese
Elizabeth Marvel - Pia
Mary Joy - Marilyn
Maria Dizzia - Jaime Brennan
Ira Hawkins - Businessman
Laura Odeh - Waitress

Taglines: Love makes everything possible.

Official Website: Official site [Japan] |

Release Date: 28 October 2010

Filming Locations: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Opening Weekend: $6,224 (USA) (6 February 2011) (2 Screens)

Gross: $20,585 (USA) (27 February 2011)

Runtime: Canada: 119 min (Toronto International Film Festival)  | USA: 102 min

Trivia:
Jennifer Lopez was once attached to play the lead.

Quite a nice movie!

Rating: 8/10

I saw this at the Toronto Film Festival. I go to university in Toronto, and I decided on impulse to watch one of the movies in between my classes, and this one fit so I wouldn't have to be late for my next class. I'm very glad I saw it.

The film is about Emilia (Natalie Portman), who lives with her husband John (Scott Cohen), and her stepson William (Charlie Tahan). We watch as her story is told through flashbacks and we learn that John was married (to Carolyne, played by Lisa Kudrow) and had an affair with Emilia. He soon divorces Carolyne and marries Emilia. We watch as Emilia struggles to keep her life together with her marriage strained by the death of their 3-day-old daughter Isabel, and William's resentment towards her.

I really liked the acting in this movie. Natalie Portman is really natural in this role. Scott Cohen and the young Charlie Tahan were very good too, and Lisa Kudrow too, even though she didn't have a lot of scenes.

I liked the story, and I didn't find the pace of the film to be dragging. The characters were well written too- I was always able to see their side of the story and could sympathize and understand them, even when they contradicted with other characters.

To me, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was a very good film overall.

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