She Came to Me (2023) User Reviews

Out of character

[dpbvcgtq · 6/10 · 17 March 2024]

First of all, I am the kind of person who would like this kind of movie. Character-driven, well acted - sign me up!!

There were powerful performances and scenes but it just for some reason didn't add up into a movie that made sense. Why did Anne Hathaway become so undone? I can't know. Why did she make her career decision at the end? Why did Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei forge a powerful connection despite all evidence to the contrary? I really couldn't make heads or tails of it.

I do wonder what the filmmaker was trying to say because from my point of view there was a lot of out-of-character decisions being made by, well, the characters.

two clashing stories

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 17 November 2023]

Composer Steven Lauddem (Peter Dinklage) is struggling to do his next opera. His wife Patricia Jessup-Lauddem (Anne Hathaway) is a therapist. He encounters tug boat captain Katrina Trento (Marisa Tomei). After an afternoon fling and a near-death drowning, he comes up with a new successful opera. Meanwhile, Patricia's son Julian Jessup (Evan Ellison) is dating school mate Tereza Szyskowski (Harlow Jane). Patricia hires cleaning lady Magdalena Szyskowski (Joanna Kulig) without knowing that they are mother and daughter.

This has great actors. It's an indie from filmmaker Rebecca Miller. There are two main stories and their tones somewhat clash. Dinklage and tug boat Tomei and an opera and crazy Hathaway is one wacky side. The other story has a serious drama about underage sex and a racist court system. The movie really needs to pick one or the other. Despite the great cast, the movie never pulls together.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Again)

[BoBo_Goal32 · 6/10 · 27 November 2023]

When Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei are knocking on your screen, you cant say no. This is a stylish romantic-Drama-Comedy, which includes so many topics and issues that your head might explode during the time you are watching the movie.

Nice? Yes! Entertaining? Yeah, why not? But for a movie with stars from this caliber you expect to be legendary, no less. It is elegant, intelligent (or at least wanna be) and ambitious movie, but the script doesn't align with its leading stars and their appetences.

This movie is trying to touch art, obsession, religion, young love, advanced love, muse and what not? Each subject gets his five till ten minutes, but for so many issues dealt within one movie, it seems that every two issues could have got a separate movie with separate plot.

The movie melts and fuses several plot lines, which are interwoven with one another, without having an actual connection, but once again, the movie still maintains as an entertaining movie, with good texts, performances and even subtexts that are piled up one on the other and hiding an actual message to the viewers.

It's a forgettable movie, not your usual rom-com and the stars of it justifies watching it, just for the sake of watching them get nuts (especially Anne Hathaway in one unforgettable scene), but probably you will forget about it an hour or two after watching it, though it is not so bad.

Cute story and fun entertainment- Woody Allen meets Nora Epheron

[filmtravel101 · 6/10 · 10 March 2024]

I'm a big fan of Peter Dinklage and Rebecca Miller has a fantastic actress eye and pen for drama that's good fun.

This story has 2 very different plots that sort of come together in a clunky awkward manner that some might find strange but it works. The acting is superb by all cast and its premise gets so absurd that it's al list like a NY play that full of surprises.

The only absurd character is Anne Hathaway yet she pulls it off yet there is zero chemistry between them so Marisa Tomei is fantastic with Peter and that story could easily have been the main plot and been a masterpiece.

6 stars and looking forward to more from Rebecca Miller.

Quirky Roundelay Doesn't Quite Find Its Footing

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 15 April 2024]

Director/screenwriter Rebecca Miller has fashioned quite a quirky relationship roundelay in this 2023 dramedy as she focuses on a dumbfounding love triangle saved from complete absurdity by the dexterity of the three leads. The plot is convoluted. Stephen Lauddem is a famous composer with writer's block who sleeps with Katrina, a shopworn tugboat captain with a sex addiction, and then writes a celebrated opera about their fast affair. Stephen is married to Patricia, a beautiful Manhattan therapist with OCD and a strange obsession with nuns. There's a parallel story of Patricia's son who is in love with the underaged daughter of the family maid whose husband is hellbent on breaking up the relationship. All the story strands come together but don't emotionally resonate nearly as much as they should. Miller seems more preoccupied with the characters' eccentricities. The star performances compensate. Peter Dinklage plays Stephen with jaundiced charm, while Anne Hathaway shows off a welcome edginess to Patricia. Marisa Tomei conveys a convincing lived-in approach to Katrina that helps ground the movie's somewhat flighty tone.

lots going on but not for any good reason

[Special-K88 · 9 March 2024]

Anxiety-ridden Brooklyn opera composer is stuck with a temporary mental block, even though he's married to his former therapist. Even though it behooves a person of his fragility to have an on-call therapist at his disposal, it still isn't sparking his creative muse. While meandering, he meets and then has a quickie with a deadpan yet sunny tugboat captain out of Baton Rouge who identifies herself as a "romance addict." He can't admit to himself how he feels about this strange mariner, but lo and behold, their casual encounter lights a fire under him. Off-kilter but futile blend of the comedic and the dramatic mixes a lot of subplots together which aren't very engaging, with a group of people hard to care much about, despite the talent at its disposal: Dinklage manages a layered performance and Tomei is bursting with energy, meanwhile Hathaway plays a character who's difficult to even get a handle on. It's never obvious where this is going, and yet it never feels like it matters. **

Titicaca water frog

[alxx0209 · 7/10 · 15 October 2023]

I went to the theater to see this movie recently. I do generally enjoy Peter Dinklage as an actor to name one film specifically, The Station Agent . As well as other appearances. Anne Hathaway i also like in various movies. I also recognized Marisa Tomei in this movie before knowing her name or who she was. Of course spiderman reboot of the reboot. Might have to watch more of her movies. She adds some flare or color to the movie. Could say some dimensions.

I think the three of the them pulled most weight in the movie , little humor and some heart while tangled up with the complexity of love. The other couple was an alright plot . But I liked peter dinklages performance way more.

Rebecca directors this movie well and i think the point is kinda not to understand how love works. I enjoyed seeing the good the bad and the ugly of love / these characters. Well to wrap this up , the movie is worth a watch something to pass time and think about. Im going rate movie 7 based on Dinklages range in the movie.

Humorous But Not Hilarious

[stevendbeard · 6/10 · 8 October 2023]

I saw She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage-Game of Thrones_tv, Elf; Anne Hathaway-Interstellar, Get Smart_2008 and Marisa Tomei-the Spider_Man movies, Wild Hogs.

This is a rom/com that is a little humorous but not hilarious. Peter plays an opera composer that has a writer's block. Anne plays his wife, a therapist that has her own problems. She is an excessive neat freak-always cleaning and dusting-and even has their sex nights on a schedule, only on Thursday nights. Anne tells Peter to get out and go for a walk and maybe talk to someone, and get his mojo back. Peter reluctantly goes out and meets Marisa in a bar. Marisa says she is a hopeless romantic and one thing leads to another and they have a one night stand. Peter then uses his experience with Marisa to finish his opera but things get complicated-as they usually do in these rom/coms-when everyone finds out about everyone else. During the end credits is a new song by Bruce Springsteen, in case you are a fan-my wife is.

It's rated R for language and sexual content-partial nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 42 minutes.

It's not one that I would buy on DVD-my wife said it was okay but different-but it would be alright to stream.

Well that was torture

[filmguyci-22804 · 3/10 · 15 October 2023]

Good cast wasted as they play characters whose actions and dialogue bear no resemblance to any real human beings.

The film couldn't seem to decide on one storyline and had several. The tone shifts frequently leaving one to wonder what exactly the writer/director was going for.

Anne Hathaway was grating. Peter Dinklage who is typically a strong actor, is horribly miscast. Even Marisa Tomei, whom I usually love, couldn't save this. There was zero chemistry between any of these characters.

When a film with a cast like this gets an extremely limited release and makes no money, there is a reason.

Considering the assembled cast, surprising good

[michaelwplde · 7/10 · 12 October 2023]

Considering the cast assembled on this project, AH, MT, anchored by a masterful performance by PD, did not expect this one to be quite as engaging, intriguing, as I found it to be. It was a bit predictible in places, stereotypical in others. And the muse inspirations for the 'operatic' interpretations... I mean, could it be any more obvious, in your face, what PD's is telling the world, or his 'wife' of convenience. She (AH's character) uses him at every turn, then makes excuses why she cannot 'be there'. But then refreshingly PD's character finds himself very nearly swept of his tiny legs and feet, if I may dare, by MT's character. Tugs the discordant young couple to DE of all places where they can elope and escape the statist stenographer step-father, even having the balls to float the word 'regime'. All things considered, you got couple hours to spend, not a disappointing performance. Could it be a bit less stereotyped, sure. Give it a strong C- D+ overall. Seen better especially these past couple of years, but also far, far, worse, by more than a few nautical miles.

Great cast, bad script, with the wrong director

[stevelivesey-37183 · 3/10 · 8 November 2023]

Wow. This was hard going.

Once again we have the same problem as many modern movies of trying to get quart into a pint pot.

Not much about this works. I like the individual members of the cast but as an ensemble, it didn't work.

All the characters they portray bear zero resemblance to any human being I have ever met.

This might have stood a chance if played for laughs and leaning into the absurdity of the plot. I wonder what this could have been if someone like Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers or an Edgar Wright would have been at the helm. Instead this is played deadpan and just doesn't make the audience care one jot.

Rebecca Miller(writer/director) A Relatable Heartwarming Film with Quirky Intriguing Circumstances

[tdwillis-26273 · 8/10 · 25 October 2023]

This film gives me hope that there are still writers/actors/producers out there who understand what I need in a movie. I'm NOT the demographic anymore. So Gems like this are hard for me to find.

The film is unique! With a tugboat, (with female captain) opera theater, (with composer) and a psychiatrist with O. C. D.

I LOVED the characters. Imperfect but well intended characters who each come to a greater awareness of what is needed to be more fulfilled and happy.

This film has heart. It's subject matter about real emotions set in a quirky set of circumstances is very relatable and heartwarming. Reminiscent of good ole fashioned story telling that touches the soul.

Something I desperately needed.

P. S./added edit.....I was unfamiliar with the director, Rebecca Miller. Without making any connections, I had actually seen one of her movies years ago that I thought was brilliant with Daniel Day Lewis. And am now, halfway thru her 2016 movie. She has a very clear point of view. And it's very relatable to me as a woman who has said and thought some of the same ideas that Ms. Miller explores in her movies. I'm such a fan!!! Looking forward to catching up on her past films and hope she has more coming!

A great fairy story.

[Boristhemoggy · 6/10 · 28 November 2023]

The story of a composer with composer's block, his psychotic wife who wants to become a nun, a tug boat captain who loves everyone...including the composer, an egotistical father, and a teen couple trying to evade the law.

What could go wrong?

I didn't like this at first as it starts a little flat, and I wasn't sure where it was going, or what is was about. Hathaway and Dinklage's performances were average, and it wasn't until Tomei playing the tug boat captain came on scene that the film brightened considerably.

The young couple had little chemistry but luckily they didn't really need it, and Harlow Jane played a fabulous part anyway.

As the plot thickened I began to imagine the characters as Disneyesque characters in a fairy tale. And I realised that that is what this film is. It's a modern day, live action fairy tale. Once you realised that, the film is much more enjoyable and like all fairy tales the happy ending left me content and glad that I watched it through.

Started as a 3 and leapt into a 6, the tug boat and it's captain is just genius.

What did I just watch?

[twistbite · 2/10 · 10 December 2023]

I haven't written reviews for a while, but this story just calls for it.. So basically, you make a strong female character who is a doctor and could handle everything by herself and towards the end you give her a MENTAL BREAKDOWN and have her husband be happy with the stalker who followed him here?

What kind of childhood did the screenwriter have, I need to ask. Because this type of things set only the grounds for mentally deranged people who may think it's super ok to be a stalker because hey, maybe I become someone's muse.

Do avoid this if you believe in strong female characters becasue it is a joke.

The cast is great, hence the +1.

Wacky. Not for teens unless you approve of them doing it.

[jaybug-49925 · 29 November 2023]

Anne Hathaway is a stellar actress. She makes every part she does perfectly believable. She's brilliant. Frankly, I agreed with the father of the young girl who is in love with the older guy. I would've behaved differently though. I probably would've given permission for them to marry. It's not my life though. I'm not interested in opera. I'm not interested in all this drama. It's pretty predictable. You really see it coming from a long ways away. Well, and Hathaway has another acting gig accomplished. She earned a lot of money for doing this . She proved her acting abilities. I think some people will do anything for money.

Great cast but....

[Freckles20 · 6/10 · 5 May 2024]

I enjoy independent movies a lot. Something that isn't too Hollywood. Stealler cast. Dinklage, Hathaway and Tomeii must be hard up for parts or were paid handsomely. I went into the movie with an open mind but unfortunately I felt like I was in a fever dream! Way too many stories going on without any rhyme or reason and extremely unbelievable and unforgettable. Essentially the teen's storyline. The dog is the only sane character!! I don't know how anyone could label it a comedy? .I gave it six stars for the cast and a short running time. Thank goodness I waited until it was available to stream for free on Hulu.

Quirky, light, dual-storyline drama that never really nails its own style & tone

[danieljfarthing · 6/10 · 26 November 2023]

In quirky drama "She Came To Me" opera composer Peter Dinklage has writer's block, so to break his patterns, shrink wife Anne Hathaway sends him out walking the streets of their native New York - where he meets tugboat captain Marisa Tomei (always likeable), a sex / romance addict who indeed does break his block. As that off-centre plot-line unfolds, so too does one on Hathaway's son Evan Ellison, his gf Harlow Jane, and her folks Brian d'Arcy James (good) & Joanna Kulig (Hathaway's cleaner). Quite what style & tone writer / director Rebecca Miller was aiming for is unclear, but the result is engaging enough, if slightly bemusing. It's certainly 'different', that is for sure.

Dinklage, Tomei, and then there's everybody else....

[bjhex1 · 6/10 · 28 April 2024]

Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei are absolutely fantastic in this film. Their presences on screen, individually and together, demand attention at all times. This even while struggling through a woefully pedestrian script, the expository parts of which are mind-numbingly bland. Thankfully, these two are able to rise above script. And it doesn't hurt that even made to look a bit rough as a tugboat captain, Marisa Tomei is positively gorgeous in her late 50s. But that's about where the praise slows down. The truth is, they are not on screen for nearly enough time.

There are three intertwined stories that never really quite gel cinematically (go see a John Sayles film, Lone Star, or Sunshine State to see this done masterfully). Anne Hathaway is serviceable, but in a role that could be, and largely was, phoned in. One extreme (the kreplach) scene, presumably meant to go viral, doesn't really land. Nor does the rather telegraphed final joke for her character (no spoiler).

But the anchor that drags this otherwise interesting film down is the onerous thread of the star-crossed teens. A bad script with supreme talent (Dinklage and Tomei), leaves a film short of its potential but passable. A bad script with dull and listless young actors is a recipe for an atrocious afterschool special. The ham-fisted symbolism of the father's Civil War re-enactments (isn't that really just cosplay, though?) and the 'futurism' of the teens gets hammered home. There were audible shifts from the audience with whom I watched, as scenes changed from the dynamism of the leads to the lethargy of the teen story. The biggest problem with this is that the audience needs to care about these two young people and their future. And we just don't.

Unfortunately, the three threads are needed to make the story come around full circle in the end. Only one thread is compelling with Dinklage and Tomei. Hathaway's thread had potential but ultimately was just tangential, and the teens' thread was a burden to endure to necessitate the final act. And all this and overwrought opera presentations, not good enough to be worthy of praise, but not quite so obviously parodic to garner laughter. Perhaps that's symbolic of the film itself, middling. Dinklage and Tomei deserved better.

Quirky and Enchanting.

[destiny_west · 6/10 · 25 November 2023]

She Came to Me is about an Opera composer and his dysfunctional relationship with his wife who is also his ex-therapist. One day when writer's block has a harsh grip his OCD wife sends him out for a walk, which will change his life forever.

The cast is magical. Peter Dinklage is mesmerizing as Steven (the opera composer) Anne Hathaway plays his wife Patricia, who is perfectly cast as this clinical OCD control freak.

Marisa Tomei as Katrina is quirky, fun, and compelling, she truly is perfection in this role and you can't help but be cheering her on from the sidelines.

If you like films that are offbeat, original, and quirky then this film is a definite must-watch. I really enjoyed it.

Too little opera

[TheDragonTrader · 5/10 · 23 January 2024]

Although it pretends to unveil something profound, She Came to Me is a surprisingly average feel-good comedy. Meanwhile, its shallow dialogue and problematic plot aside, it is still charming and funny, likely because of the well-suited cast.

This movie has several different storylines that eventually get tied together. However, this is done in ways that require increasing suspension of disbelief. In addition, they mostly keep existing next to each other without much interaction. There is no clear message - if there is one at all.

But mostly, there are too few opera scenes. The movie starts on it, then makes a point out of the Tugboat-witch opera, and then forgets about opera entirely until the finale. In short, it has too many loose ends, which makes the search for a consistent thread not worth the audience's time.

That is not to say She Came to Me isn't funny or charming, but it again can't choose whether it wants to be mostly one or the other. Comedic scenes are needlessly interrupted by emotionally intense moments. The result is an uneven, bumpy viewing experience. At the same time, the story dallies on beats that were already abundantly clear several scenes earlier.

Yet the protagonist trio is thoroughly well-cast. Peter Dinklage gets to bask in discomfort and to nearly cry out "woe be me". Anne Hathaway is hilariously pushed into a nervous breakdown, but her character never develops character. Marisa Tomei sets down the most down-to-earth witch ever put on screen. They're never out of touch with the script or each other.

Overall, She Came to Me is as average as they come: amusing but nothing to get enthusiastic about.

What could have been

[tob3464 · 5/10 · 5 January 2024]

There are three exciting short films in here, but as a muddled mashup not enough is devoted to each arc. The acting was a bit stilted except for those performances in the tugboat opera story and the young lovers story is the weak west link although I really liked the reenacter element especially if it had been more creatively integrated. I sense some influences by Fellini and Wes Anderson but a comparison to either would not be fair.i am presently babbling because it says a certain number of characters are required but all in all I'd watch anything with Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway. That is all.

Once in a while

[ianharrison747 · 8/10 · 8 November 2023]

It can be a musician, an artist, a play or a film. It leaves you baffled. Liking it, is just the bonus.

The roles resemble a box of frogs. Everybody is hiding behind a curtain of creative or functional normal. Only Katrina, who in theory is the maddest of all, has the real sole and sanity. She is the most sincere.

The film jingles along - dysfunctional and baffling until that moment in the bar when Katrina interrupts sullen Steven. Immediately the chemistry kicks in. Once again Marisa Tomei edges a film.. never obvious. I couldn't issue a plethora of spoilers, as half the time I was grappling with the odd plot. Rebecca Miller directs, produces and writes a challenging and thought provoking parable ? This is a slow burner.

Not for me

[ivantheeditor · 2/10 · 21 April 2024]

I wasn't expecting much when I started it but even my low expectations were too high for this. Great cast, very good acting from the ladies but the whole story was just too far fetched for me to buy into it. I had to stop it half way through. I didn't feel like this was going to anywhere interesting.

I wasn't expecting much when I started it but even my low expectations were too high for this. Great cast, very good acting from the ladies but the whole story was just too far fetched for me to buy into it. I had to stop it half way through. I didn't feel like this was going to anywhere interesting.

Rating adjusted for popular inanity

[doydoy-75472 · 9/10 · 21 November 2023]

I was afraid of not enjoying this film enough, considering its proximity to one of the best actors of the past century.

Boy, what a surprise.

By now there are so many beautiful, heartfelt, well written and acted, and shot, severely underrated films here that it is almost a club to be proud belonging to. No, this might not be a nine. But it is much, much more than a six.

Well done, Rebecca. You've made some magic, here.

I am a very critical viewer, these days. I will either give up on a film in a few minutes or jump ahead in grand leaps to see if there is anywhere worth rejoining the stream. Not only was I enjoying every minute of writing, acting and directing, here, I would have stayed for more.

The story is clever and fun

[steiner-sam · 8/10 · 10 October 2023]

It's a romantic comedy-drama set in current times in Brooklyn, New York. It follows the experiences and interactions of two completely different families and a tugboat captain.

Steven Lauddem (Peter Dinklage) is an insecure composer facing a deadline for a new opera with no inspiration for a storyline. He's married to Patricia (Anne Hathaway), a therapist who's a clean freak and a closet devout Catholic. She has a bright 18-year-old son, Julian (Evan Ellison), from her first marriage. She had separated from Julian's father, but he had subsequently died. They have a dog named Levi.

Magdalena Szyskowski (Joanna Kulig) is a Polish who works as a cleaning lady. She has a 16-year-old daughter, Tereza (Harlow Jane), from her first husband. She is not married to the man she's living with, Trey Ruffa (Brian d'Arcy James), but he has adopted Tereza. Trey is a court stenographer and an extreme Civil War reenactor.

We learn early on that Julian and Tereza are boyfriend-girlfriend and that Magdalena is the new cleaning lady for Steven and Patricia. None of the adults are happy when they learn of Julian & Tereza's relationship, especially Trey. We also discover that Steven suddenly gets inspiration for his opera from an encounter with tugboat captain Katrina Trento (Marisa Tomei).

"She Came to Me" follows the characters' interactions through three love stories, two of which are surprising but are clearly telegraphed as the plot unfolds. All the primary actors are excellent, especially Dinklage, Tomei, and Ellison. The story is clever and fun.