Review of Personal Effects

The twenty-four years old wrestler Walter (Ashton Kutcher) leaves the national team in Iowa and returns to his hometown after the brutal murder of his twin sister Annie (Sarah Lind) to support his mother Gloria (Kathy Bates) and his niece. When he goes with his mother to the therapy, he meets the widow Linda (Michelle Pfeifer), whose alcoholic husband was murdered by his friend in a bar. Linda has a deaf and dumb son, Clay (Spencer Hudson), who misses his father and has a repressed anger against the killer, and works in the Southside Community Center organizing weddings for needy people. They befriend each other during the trials and Walter invites Clay to join the local wrestling training. While waiting for the jury verdict of their cases, Linda and Walter have a love affair and Linda falls in love for him. However, their relationship is deeply affected when the verdict of Annie's trial is that the accused is not-guilty.

"Personal Effects" is a powerful drama and love story with a good development of the both lead characters. The beauty of Michelle Pfeifer is still astonishing and she does not seem to be fifty-one years old. Her chemistry with Ashton Kutcher is fantastic and I liked very much their performances. Kathy Bates has a minor participation and the unknown Spencer Hudson completes the great cast. Unfortunately, the last scene with Walter with a wounded leg spoils this great drama. It seems to be the typical interference of the producer to give a commercial end to please the average audiences that claim for a happy end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Por Amor" ("For Love")