X
- 2010
- R
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2010
- R
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
Summary Welcome to the Rileys is a powerful drama about finding hope in the most unusual of places. Once a happily married and loving couple, Doug and Lois Riley have grown apart since losing their teenage daughter eight years prior. Leaving his agoraphobic wife behind to go on a business trip to New Orleans, Doug meets a 17-year-old runaway and...
Directed By: Jake Scott
Written By: Ken Hixon
- 2010
- R
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2010
- R
- Samuel Goldwyn Films
- 1 h 50 m
Welcome to the Rileys
50
8.2
Where to Watch
Summary Welcome to the Rileys is a powerful drama about finding hope in the most unusual of places. Once a happily married and loving couple, Doug and Lois Riley have grown apart since losing their teenage daughter eight years prior. Leaving his agoraphobic wife behind to go on a business trip to New Orleans, Doug meets a 17-year-old runaway and...
Directed By: Jake Scott
Written By: Ken Hixon
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
50
30% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
60% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
50
30% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
60% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
There are many things to admire about this movie, but the main one is that it doesn't compromise.
A flawed script prevents Welcome to the Rileys from being the effective meditation on grief and healing it wants to be.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 55 User Ratings
8.2
82% Positive
45 Ratings
45 Ratings
11% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 55 User Ratings
8.2
82% Positive
45 Ratings
45 Ratings
11% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
I completely fell in love with this. And, even though it is generally well received, I am truly astonished that it has gotten even a noticeable amount of lackluster reviews. I do not see what is not to like. All three of the main actors/actresses are real all the way down to the marrow, the story unfolds very smoothly with all of the passion, humor and soulfulness that one may find in real life, and what I really adore about Welcome to the Riley's is that at no point did I feel as though I was being told a tale. It wasn't like watching a movie. It was more like watching a documentary. Because everything from the smallest facial expressions, to the most insignificant gestures is just saturated with texture and emotion. It's the quick and thoughtless remarks that the characters make, and the angles of certain glimpses of camera work that allow us, the audience, to understand what is really going on underneath all of the outward doings and occurrences. I was invested, I was interested, I was engaged and I cared about everything that was happening in this fictional world that died in two hours. Aspiring filmmakers, take notes. This is how you make something memorable and evocative. Truly touching. Moving in more ways than one. And even though nothing really sad happens during the course of the film...I almost found my self crying from the sheer humanity. Brilliant. Wonderful. Special.
Report
WOW. Critics are so quick to under rate this movie. I was genuinely moved by all three characters, due to the acting, it was extremely well done, especially for an indie, James really plays his character well, I was surprised with his phenomenal performance, and Kristen was very good, stepping out off her stereotypical role as Bella, I'm sick off people saying she cannot act, how can you judge an actress if you've only seen the twilight movies, she really stepped up to the mark. Melissa, James and Kristen had perfect chemistry on screen. The only thing I disliked was the lack of closure at the end, but it was enough to keep me happy, I just wanted a bit more, even five minutes would've made more sense, but overall, the film was amazing, a must **** under rated.
Report
Ken Hixon's script contrives a lot of mutual-healing set pieces and then sadly but shrewdly aborts them: That makes the drama more Chekhovian than "quite real."
What keeps the film's fragile realism intact are actors who can make even small moments count.
If Welcome to the Rileys were a thicker-skinned movie -- if it were the movie it thinks it is -- so much of the outcome wouldn't be telegraphed the minute you read the premise.
"Welcome to the Rileys"? Thanks, but no thanks.
This movie was very well done and I was thoroughly pleased. When I first heard of it, I wasn't sure what it was really about, however, the previews for this movie drew me and I was drawn from the get-go. I saw the movie this weekend after hearing about it for a number of months and I was emotionally drawn in from the beginning and through the end. The cast's performances were incredible and James Gandolfini as well as Melissa Leo create an experience of compassion. Kristen Stewart's performance was outstanding and powerful. I'm always intrigued by her work as she truly is a talented actress. I look forward to seeing more of her work. This movie is a must see and I hope more people will get to experience its depth, power and real-life humor. Truly fantastic!
Report
WTTR was the best Kristen Stewart movie I have seen yet. She was brilliant, you wouldn't even know her past, you'd think she was just a pro. Her ability to become this character in all sense of the word really confirmed the adoration I had for her and her skills in acting. I pray for her to just grow and become even better as a actress, person and woman. She has so much to offer and since she was able to be versatile and transcend her BELLA stereotype people place her in, its amazing to see how brilliant she is. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo did such a phenomenal job in this movie. I really forgot all the other movies I've seen them in and saw them embody their characters just like Kristen. It was so believable that I forgot they were actresses and actors.
They have inspired me tremendously. They show you that you should never give up but keep pressing on from the simple fact that this movie has defined their excellence. THEY ARE EXCELLENT. And not to mention, or ever forget, the producing staff. I have to give special praise for Giovanni Agnelli and his ability to pull this off. He has been promoting this movie every single day on twitter. He has such a huge following for his work ethic, personality, and pure talent alone from interacting with his fans. Majority of us are Kristen Stewart fans but we loved every minute of this film. It made us cry, snort, laugh, giggle, cry, gasp and just weep from within. This movie touched all of our lives. It is the truth for some people out there, stripping is a way of living for some woman. It is a sad realization and I appreciate that this movie doesn't dummy down the reality to Mallory's situation. James Gandolfini's part just lifted my heart to a whole new level. It was almost like he was the hero that came and tried to save Mallory. He wanted to love her and be there in any way he could. His ethics of showing her how to be better and reach for greater things was beautiful. It reminds me of Gods love. The entire movie was just raw, real, inspirational and contagious. I just wanted to share this movie with everyone I knew. Even though it rendered me speechless for a few minutes.
The detail and eloquence to the scenes was another thing. You felt like you were in every scene of this movie. You sat forward when things got serious and you stayed quiet when the climax was getting very serious. I found myself getting worried for each and every character. They connected with me and on some level I feel like a piece of me was left in that theater, to forever be changed by this movie.
To every person, moment, dollar and thought put into this movie, it really did come to like and I am thankful. There isnt any other movie like this, done the same unique way and that will touch as many hearts as this one. We want this movie worldwide. We even have Facebook groups for almost every country in the world to get this movie there so fans, majority of Kristen Stewart, get to see it (not limiting to her amazing talent) It wouldnt be fare not to say, how much Kristen makes me secure in my own skin, empowers me and inspires me. I pray for her wellbeing because I honestly want to see every single movie, interview and photo shoot she is going to be apart of. She is wholesome and so real. She doesnt try to be bubbly or Hollywood. She is comfortable being herself and I love that about her. I admire her honesty, she doesnt hide her flaws or her perfections. I cant get enough of her talent and I really hope people can see past what the tabloids try to exploit her as. She is a human being and a very talented young woman. I havent seen anyone as talented as her at her age and in this era. She is our modern Meryl strep. It doesnt get any better than her. And she is still in the beginning of her craft, she is going to drop jaws and really show the world who she is. Just be open to her and find your own opinion of her, not what others say.
So please everyone go out and see this movie because you will not see another movie like it. I am changed from it, I am blessed by it, and I am so grateful that I can see a character as lost and disturbed as Mallory overcome the obstacles. The movie proved there is more out there for us, a higher meaning because someone as troubled as Mallory can still have great people come into her life. The same goes for us so keep hope and use movies like this to build up your self esteem and be grateful for what you truly have in life. Things can always be worse, remember that.
LOVE THIS MOVIE & I would recommend it to every single person I know. This independent film has set the tone for all the rest, they need to live up to this standard now. This is the absolute best independent film I have ever seen and I hope that others get to see it and make their own conclusion, but I am positive that if they just SEE it, they will fall in love with the characters and be moved for years to come. See it, embrace it, learn from it and then go out and share it with others
Report
WTTR hasn't been released in theatres in Australia as yet. The local distributor has mentioned it will be released nationally in 2011, but no clear dates. However, it screened in July at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). As soon as I heard of this I bought my tickets to a session and my flight from Sydney (where I live). First and foremost, I loved WTTR.
The relationships that enfold between all the characters in the story are surprising, funny, heart wrenching and real. The cast and their performances also give the story something very unique. James and Melissaâ
Report
I've been a long time metacritic user but never felt compelled to sign up for an account to review a movie until now. The reason is simple, I first came to metacritic as an IMDB refugee. I was fed up with the abuse of the rating system and found solace in metacritic's even keel and good mix of user and critical reviews. I never felt compelled to add my own review or ratings because they were fairly close to what other users and critics had rated them. That was until I came across this movie. I'm usually leery about any movie that had such poor critical reception as a 50, but the 8.9 in user reviews swayed me into watching it. It's now clear to me that astroturfers and teenage fans have infected metacritic as well. The infestation is unsettling to me because this was one of the last few corners of the internet where I felt I could receive a fairly unbiased and objective viewpoint on a movie before watching it. Needless to say, that does not appear to be true any longer. If you'll scan the user reviews, you'll notice that all of them came in a 3-day span and all seem to say the same thing. I'm sure that a couple of them are genuine but the rest are duplicates and some haven't even seen the movie, but just wanted to artificially inflate the rating. As for the movie itself? Dreadful. Very slowly paced, horribly acted, poorly written. Everything from the direction to the cinematography was very stiff and wooden. Absolutely no originality and definitely no emotion. The 3 points are given for a valiant effort on Gandolfini's and Leo's behalf but even they should have realized a poor script when they saw this. Utterly disappointing on so many levels. This is my vain attempt to restore credibility to metacritic's User Score.
Report
The two points are standing for Melissa and James because they're the only good things about the movie. The script wasn't authentic or natural like other people said. It was more a gimmick wrote by a screenwriter who thinks that the world works that way.
And the other worse thing was Kristen Stewart. I couldn't take her seriously as a stripper. The way she was trying to be like crude like a real stripper was VERY laughable and then those annoying pauses or jumps she does between sentences in every movie and also in real life were horrible. Her general tics which she has in every movie also show constantly.
Normally I would be perplexed why the User Score is so high but I have already read some tweets of her fans who said that they're all gonna give 10 points to get more viewers into the cinema because they're scared that Kristen will have another flop in her movie career. (2.0)
Report
Production Company
Samuel Goldwyn Films,
Destination Films,
Scott Free Productions,
Argonaut Pictures
Release Date Oct 29, 2010
Duration 1 h 50 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline You never know who's going to be your wake-up call
Awards
Milano International Film Festival Awards (MIFF Awards)
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Boston Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
