Evening

Aroview: All-star, womanly melodrama unveils the secret life of an ailing matriarch (Redgrave), whose remembrance of an intense, tragic love fifty years in the past unites a generation of mothers, daughters and sisters.

Sweet, sappy, and manipulative, the film’s romance tugs at the heartstrings as only unrequited love stories know how. An odd English-language debut for Hungarian cinematographer-turned-dir. Koltai (FATELESS), replete with syrupy emotions and a sisterhood cast light-headed from story’s dollops of whipped cream (based on Susan Minot’s novel). Those who adored THE NOTEBOOK should help themselves.