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Saffron Burrows, Isaach De Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta, Janeane Garofalo, Ashlie Atkinson ... see more see more... , Chris Bauer , David Wain , Elizabeth Marvel , Sonia Manzano , Issaach De Bankole , Adam Trese , Joel Cannon , Mia Kucan , Owen McCarthy , William Leroy

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 tr... read more read more...oubling 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

Flixster Users

53% liked it

977 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

18 critics

R, 1 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Amy Redford

Release Date: November 7, 2008

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DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009

Stats: 109 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (109)

  • itsjustme2004
    October 13, 2010
    itsjustme2004
    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 imagi... read morene 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.
  • Redlats
    May 12, 2009
    Redlats
    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.
  • lewiskendell
    February 21, 2009
    lewiskendell
    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,... read more 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.
  • gator681
    November 25, 2009
    gator681
    "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. ... read more 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.
  • shitfaced8
    August 16, 2011
    shitfaced8
    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.
  • mvieaddict
    March 19, 2009
    mvieaddict
    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 pl... read moreay the electric guitar.

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    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.
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  • pontxo
    July 31, 2010
    pontxo
    If you hate Sheryl Crow as much as I do, don't watch this shitty movie.

    When terminal illness doesn't kill you... debt will.

    This movie wasn't just bad, it was a disaster and a kick in the groin just to go through it, but in order to have this opinion I had to see it, hencefor... read moreth, my review is this. Don't watch it, you'll be disappointed and feel you've been cheated out of a couple of hours of your life. It's just an insult to any terminal patient.

    So, the moral of the story is if you're gonna die don't overdraft yourself with credit cos you might get afflicted by the cancer which is debt. Oh, yeah, but you'll play the electric guitar with great ability in three months... SCREW THIS!

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman
November 20, 2008
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. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
November 7, 2008
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

[A] bizarre art-house equiva lent of The Bucket Lisy. Full Review

Stephen Holden
November 7, 2008
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
November 6, 2008
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. Full Review

Rex Reed
November 5, 2008
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Written by Amos Poe and directed with moxie by Amy Redford, it's the ultimate movie about optimism. Full Review

Nick Pinkerton
November 5, 2008
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. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
November 5, 2008
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

You have to see it for yourself. It is that out-of-the-depths triumphant. Full Review

Duane Byrge
October 18, 2008
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

A sobering and resonant tale.

Justin Chang
January 22, 2008
Justin Chang, Variety

This beguiling wisp of a film charms and maddens in equal measure. Full Review

Andrew L. Urban
December 20, 2008
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 Full Review

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