10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:Fascinatingly weird journey,
4 January 2011
Author: sbdavis-941-600473 from United States
I, too, registered with IMDb so I could respond to the first reviewer's analysis. With all due respect, I think this person misunderstood the film. I found this movie to be delightfully quirky--just like the main character. And that's the point of the film. The plot is as fragmented and schizophrenic as she is. If you are looking for a traditional story with a linear plot, this isn't it. But if you can do as the character herself suggests--let yourself go and enjoy the insanity--it is terrific. It's really not that hard to follow the plot. I like the fact that the story is told from different perspectives that are all linked through their own insanity and eccentricities. And maybe "insanity" is too strong a word here. All of us are weird/crazy in our own way, and I think that's what the film is trying to say. It is a funny, poignant, witty glimpse into the odd life of an odd woman. And in the end, all the pieces come together and make sense...mostly. Sure, there are some unanswered questions and ambiguity. But isn't that just like real life? It's not a 10, but it is worth seeing.
13 out of 17 people found the following review useful:Not a "confusing, schizophrenic mess",
29 December 2009Author: ms_heza from United States
I registered at IMDb just to respond to another's comments about this film. The previous reviewer (from Hong Kong) is missing something. I'm not sure what it is (maybe he was playing solitaire while the film was playing) but he really didn't understand a lot of obvious things about this film. Personally, I didn't find it confusing at all. On the contrary, I thought it was great, understandable and fun. It's got some hilarious moments and I laughed out loud several times. There are some unanswered questions but they're not that kind that have to be answered in order for the film to work.
This isn't a blockbuster so if one has high expectations, they're liable to be disappointed. But, it doesn't make sense to come into anything with expectations anyways, because they're entirely subjective. :D
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:Entertainingly funny and cute,
21 March 2011
Author: somally2494 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This movie was mildly funny and very cute. Sadie's character reminded me of a teenager in love when Henry was around. Melissa Leo and David Starthairn gave excellent performances as the lovers lost in time. I will say it was a little quirky movie. I did not know what to expect going into this movie. Afterwords, I found to love this movie. Especially David Strathairn's character(s). At first I thought Sadie was the silly, sort-of-insane one, but as the movie reached the ending it turned out Henry was the one talking to the audience and he was the weird, shy guy. Jason Downs also did well as Edmund. I felt this movie would be a good date movie and one that may require a good description of the movie before watching, because one may get confused while watching. The movie was a little confusing with the Past-Present thing. After completely watching this movie, I will have to say I love it!
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:Metaphysical Romance,
24 July 2012Author: bettina-3 from British Virgin Islands
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Once you understand Racing Daylight is a metaphysical romance, not really a ghost story, it becomes a simple, lovely little gem of a movie; quite easy to follow. It is about a group of people who inhabit the same space in two different times. Melissa Leo's Sadie returns to the home of her childhood to care for her bedridden grandmother. This people of the town have, as she is told often enough, 'always lived here'. The town seems to be what some people call a thin place. Lost and lonely Sadie begins to move in and out of her time and that of her civil war ancestor, Anna.
The story is lyrical and romantic, told through exquisite performances by Melissa Leo, David Strathairn, Giancarlo Esposito and a superb supporting cast. Racing Daylight does come off as a little stagy at times; the sets and cinematography are basic, almost dogme-ish. While I suspect some of the spareness is due to budget constraints, some of that choice is central to director Nicole Quinn's vision: the framing, sets and costumes convey the fluidity of time.
Racing Daylight was a pleasant surprise early on a sleepless morning.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:Interesting, but confusing,
11 July 2012
Author: mauvemoonlight from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This is a rather unusual film - which seems to be about reincarnation and ghosts.
It starts off rather interestingly - with a character named Sadie Stokes, a woman I would guess to be in her mid-40s. Sadie seems to be a rather lonely person, apparently shy and with no friends, despite the fact she's lived in the area her entire life.
Sadie is very much in love with a man named Henry but too shy to even speak to him. Henry is played by David Strathairn - who has the most beautiful brown eyes framed by gorgeous black eyebrows - I think I have ever seen. I was never clear on exactly what Henry's character does for a living - possibly a mechanic.
Sadie seems to work in a bookstore as near as I could tell and lives with her grandmother, who is severely senile (hiring someone to stay with the woman during the time she works.) But, perhaps Sadie has lived before. She begins to have what are either flashbacks, hallucinations, memories or time-traveling experiences. It seems that in a past life she was a woman named Anna. That all of these people have lived before and been involved with each other is the theme of the film.
As it turns out, Anna and a man named Harry were madly in love with one another back during Civil War times. However Harry was killed, perhaps, this is never made clear. At any rate, Anna married his cousin, Edmond -who was also madly in love with Anna.
After that, things become even less clear. The film fails to follow a linear storyline, and we appear to be shown different versions of what happened to these people.
10 out of 23 people found the following review useful:A confusing, schizophrenic mess,
30 April 2009
Author: Gordon-11 from Hong Kong
This film is about a woman who falls in love with with a man, but her love story mirrors that of her ancestor.
Well, that's what I think the film is about. "Racing Daylight" is a complete mess. After watching the film, I actually have no idea what it is about. There are three segments in the movie. The first shows Sadie going crazy because she thinks she is someone else. The second shows a young man who is crazy because he sees non existent people; while the third segment shows another man who seems to watch the evens as a bystander. Things are so poorly explained, which is fatal for this film. It appears that Sadie has gone back in time, or she imagines herself to have gone back in time, I do not know. Some may think it is romantic to have love that transcend time, but in "Racing Daylight" this idea is so poorly executed that everything just becomes confusing, pointless and chaotic.
The only redeeming feature is Melissa Leo's great acting, but it is certainly not enough to save "Racing Daylight" from being a total disaster.
