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Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Patricia Clarkson, Jessica Campbell, Joshua Jackson ... see more see more... , Timothy Olyphant , Kristen Stewart , Mary Kay Place , Moira Kelly , Alex House , Charlotte Arnold , Robert Klein , Andrew Airlie , Stephanie Mills , Angela Vint , Aaron Ashmore , C. David Johnson , Haylee Wanstall , Kathryn Winslow , Balazs Koos , Matthew MacLennan

Following up on her 1998 opus Bedrooms and Hallways, Rose Troche directs this ensemble film about suburbia and its discontents. Once an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson) now ... read more read more...lies in a coma, attentively nursed by his mother Esther (Glenn Close), who dotes on her son to the exclusion of her husband and her daughter Julie (Jessica Campbell). Meanwhile, Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney) is a workaholic lawyer who is closer to his tortes than to his spouse Susan (Moira Kelly). Their son Jake has taken a morbid fascination with his sister's foot-high girl doll. At the same time, Paul's former lover Annette Jennings (Patricia Clarkson) is trying to pull her life and her family back together after a particularly brutal divorce. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Flixster Users

66% liked it

4,018 ratings

Critics

49% liked it

72 critics

R, 2 hr. 1 min.

Directed by: Rose Troche

Release Date: January 1, 2001

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DVD Release Date: October 14, 2003

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Stats: 215 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (215)


  • May 14, 2011
    Saw this sometime ago and really enjoyed it, so was glad to see it going really cheap on Amazon.
    The rewatch was just as good. Great cast including a very young Kristen Stewart. I liked how the stories about the three sets of neighbours all wound together. Though it is a drama, ... read morethere is some black humor there as well. The Barbie doll in particular made me laugh. Very realistic with that hair - kind of creepy actually!
  • October 1, 2009
    What an odd movie.. I liked it and I really don't know why.. these neighbors are as screwed up as the next.. they are like one big disfunctioal family living in different house's on one street.. but yet this film is very sad too.. theres just so much going on.. its just something... read more you need to watch for yourself to understand.. I loved it.
  • August 18, 2009
    Odd, yet very likeable film.
  • February 15, 2007
    So I bought this movie as an impulse buy at hollywood video for $5. it was actually really good. and the way that they did the opening credits was really creative and wonderful. they had four different houses and little people on tracks came out of each house to represent the dif... read moreferent members of each of the four families. plus the symbolism about the stoicness of the little plastic people on the repetitive tracks in and out of the houses was good. even though the summary says that they are all having different problems they all stem from one car accident that connects them all together. and each main character is obsessed with an "object," whether it be a car, a job, a doll, or unfortunately, a comatose son. so it was about people finding solace in these objects and then realizing that they have to come to terms with reality and let things go. and there are a lot of other things going on as well.
  • March 6, 2012
    WWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIRDDDDDDDD movie!!!! there is really nothing more that I can say but that.
  • July 6, 2009
    Welcome to the neighborhood, where the neighbors are nice, keep their affairs secret, have usual desires, and live in familiar life. Esther Gold's life is consumed by caring her comatose son Paul all day and night. Jim Train feels that his family no longer needs him and is sent i... read morento a tailspin when he's passed over for a promotion. Helen Christianson is determined to shake up her mundane life while trying new products to keep her feeling young. Annette Jennings, in a midst of a messy divorce, struggles financially to care for her two daughters. In a series of overlapping stories four suburban families who deal with different maladies will bring their fates facing with the truth.

    Directed by Rose Troche, The Safety Of Objects features great acting performances from the following cast:
    1.) Glenn Close (Esther Gold)
    2.) Joshua Jackson (Paul Gold)
    3.) Jessica Campbell (Julie Gold)
    4.) Dermot Mulroney (Jim Train)
    5.) Alex House (Jake Train)
    6.) Moira Kelly (Susan Train)
    7.) Mary Kay Place (Helen Christianson)
    8.) Patricia Clarkson (Annette Jennings)
    9.) Kristen Stewart (Sam Jennings)
    10.) Timothy Olyphant (Randy)

    I may not be a fan of independent cinema, but when I watched The Safety Of Objects I find it as an excellent story for the series of overlapping stories about four different families in one big confusion. The comatose state that Paul was in may be silent to me as while Joshua Jackson didn't deliver any lines, he at least did a good acting job. As she's playing the tomboyish, short-haired Sam Jennings who likes to smoke, the young Kristen Stewart was only seven years away from Twilight. I got amused with the voice-overs when Jake has romantic fantasies with his younger sister's doll - and I wish I'd like to have such fantasies while looking at the dolls. (Just kidding...I would never do that!) Since this is a drama, The Safety Of Objects may be slow but it's not at all boring; its plot is moving that it helped me get through my viewing experience. I would like to watch more independent movies like this.
  • January 27, 2009
    people with nice jobs and perfect grass, upset that they're not immune to bad shit. the kids are crazy and it's completely entertaining!! one word...the barbie. haha.
  • December 9, 2007
    WWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIRDDDDDDDD movie!!!! there is really nothing more that I can say but that.
  • December 23, 2006
    Something has to be said of a movie where you see a 15 year old boy crouching underneath a restaurant table clutching a Barbie doll and saying "Give me some sugar" Weird yet satisfying.

Critic Reviews


Peter Howell
June 6, 2003
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

A richly compelling movie that is as hard to forget as it is difficult to warm up to. Full Review

Ray Conlogue
June 6, 2003
Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail

It's a movie located in an interesting place, but without quite enough self-confidence really to inhabit it. Full Review

Jay Boyar
April 10, 2003
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

The sheer number and variety of miseries on view suggest a kind of wallowing.

Vic Vogler
March 14, 2003
Vic Vogler, Denver Post

In boldly departing from the safety of a strong, unifying plot, Troche makes virtual objects of her characters by showing us plenty that intrigues and not enough that enlightens. Full Review

Terry Lawson
March 14, 2003
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Troche ... seems to be tuned into Homes' writing, but without really knowing how to translate it to a cinematic narrative.

Claudia Puig
March 13, 2003
Claudia Puig, USA Today

A deftly made and poignant character study that deals with life's heartaches and its tender mercies. Full Review

Chris Vognar
March 13, 2003
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

Happiness is a Magnolia Ice Storm of American Beauty. Full Review

Rex Reed
March 13, 2003
Rex Reed, New York Observer

It pretends to be a meaningful slice of Americana, but only succeeds in serving masses of tedium while driving its heavy foot down its own throat. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
March 13, 2003
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

I had a hard time keeping track of the members of each family from one jagged scene to the next, especially since no one says or does anything particularly interesting. Full Review

Eddie Cockrell
March 11, 2003
Eddie Cockrell, Variety

[Troche has] made a quantum leap in the depth and confidence of her direction, coaxing career-best perfs from everyone involved while fleshing out each storyline to maximum impact. Full Review

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  • What movie did Kristen Stewart make her film debut ?  Answer »
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