The High Cost of Living (2010) User Reviews (13)

A situational drama with quiet undertones, never fully realized

[secondtake · 6/10 · 2 December 2012]

The High Cost of Living (2010)

There is something about this kind of slice-of-life movie with a major hook--in this case a car accident and an injury--that makes you want to watch. And here we have a rather realistic depiction of working class Montreal which is interesting as a backdrop, unromanticized.

The two leading characters, a Francophone Canadian and an Anglophone New Yorker transplanted to the city, are equally realistic. They find themselves needing, and helping, each other to get through the crisis. You grow gradually to like them just as they slowly learn to like each other, though whether a romance comes out of it is always in doubt.

But this isn't quite enough to sustain a full length movie. There is no significant secondary plot, there is no terrific surprise or second phase after the first problem gets resolves. Instead, the main problem (which I'm trying not to give away) is stretched to cover the whole extent and so it gets slow. Often.

It's interesting enough you stick with it, but you'll wish for me. I think it's probably true a different pair of leads--including the more famous Zach Braff--could energize or give depth to the role in a way that would fulfill us all better. And the situation they find themselves in is actually fascinating--a little dramatic and unlikely, yes, but leading to an inevitable climax. The relationship grows with delicacy but little emotional complexity.

Until the last scene, which is a beautiful way to bring it all to a close.

Just how pathetic are men?

[susanna_uk · 6/10 · 23 October 2011]

This movie is firmly in the "was OK to watch but brought nothing new to the table" category. The central characters are not wholly believable, was is the first big negative for me. The unbelievable relationship dynamics was the second... and the third is the lack of consistency in their moral values and viewpoint.

As has been said before by other reviewers, the plot is pretty predictable and once the trajectory of the movie has been established (after a very shaky start I have to admit) it follows without any real surprises along the way.

The acting is mediocre at best. You've able to experience something of what she is going through but its infuriating that the men (including the doctors) are incapable of even empathizing with her inner emotional state and experience. How do you think she feels after the baby insider her, which she has felt growing and moving and kicking... suddenly being still... To have something that is lifeless inside you? The only meaningful connection for me was the lifeless and 'still' relationship she realises she has with her husband Michael.

The movie doesn't try to preach solutions, it only offers questions... which ironically annoyed me (and lost it another star). After watching this movie your just left with a dead child, a dead relationship, bankrupt morals and empty dreams and a gaping black hole where they should have been. If this movie was an attempt at answering some of the Dark Night of the Soul experiences we have in life - it failed for me. It just left me with a feeling of just how pathetic men really are...

intriguing premise

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 16 October 2016]

Henry Welles (Zach Braff) is a small-time drug dealer in Montreal. He gets turned around and drives down an one-way street the wrong way. He hits pregnant Nathalie (Isabelle Blais) in a hit and run. Nathalie loses the baby but can't get a cesarean until a few weeks later. Henry sends his friend Johnny to find Nathalie which attracts the attention of police detective Lambert. Henry follows Nathalie to a bar where he defends her against a woman berating her for drinking while pregnant. She has a fight with her husband Michel and leaves him to stay with her new friend Henry.

The start has the two sides speaking different languages as if they're taking place in different cities. It's an interesting conceit but it does need to be more demonstrative about the location being Montreal after it's revealed. As for the story, there is an intriguing premise with two actors willing to try. It does wear thin as the audience waits for his inevitable reveal to Nathalie. It would probably help to elevate the story's tension with more Lambert. The climatic meeting with Nathalie is almost anti-climatic. The climax should be more about his guilt and his decision about his crime instead of a romance. In the end, it's an ambiguous ending with the police calling Henry. It doesn't satisfy.

Cost of Living covers all possible bases

[timcote7 · 10/10 · 24 November 2011]

This riveting film is not your typical redemption movie, though you see in a realistic fashion the main character searching for it diligently. Zach Braff plays a man without boundaries or concern for consequence who is suddenly arrested by his own poor choices. The story follows relationships between people who connect, but, just like real life, not quite perfectly. You see the cost of these relationships, and how sometimes there is no pay off. I loved the character development and entire mood of the film. Braff, who I watched religiously on "Scrubs" is phenomenal and unrecognizable from previous roles. The entire cast is great and production and direction may have had budgeting problems, but not enough to take away from this gritty (I promised myself I wouldn't use that word) tale.

Underrated

[LadyCoops · 10/10 · 2 September 2015]

I'm not sure how this film snuck past me until now. It's an absolute masterpiece.

Isabelle Blais' performance is amazing. My heart was breaking watching her, she was so good. I really felt her pain. I really wanted to hate Braff's character, he's not necessarily the most stellar human being – but he's oddly likable.

I loved the quietness of the film. Its character driven, and reminded me of the Hal Hartley films I loved when I was younger.

I'll be looking out for Deborah Chow's next offering. This has gone into my favourite all-time films.

High Cost? Not really

[RhyanScorpioRhys · 1 May 2011]

This is another of those grey area films for me. Not because of the acting, I think Zach Braff and Isabelle Blais hand in some solid performances. Not even for the definitely overall indy film feel of the movie, which serviced the story ...well. The problem lies within the premise itself.

I'm not one to issue spoilers in a review, so you'll just have to view the trailer and suss out the plot for yourself, but there are situations that are introduced between the main characters that simply do not ring true, do not support the weight of the plot, and do not convey a strong enough emotion at times when the events eventually payoff.

Despite all this, I don't actually hate the film and found myself wanting to like it more than it probably deserves (despite a second act that dragged on a little longer than it should have.) Currently one of the films screening at the Tribeca Film Festival, I say, when it hits theaters, if you've seen all the other films you wanted to see, find yourself with nothing to do on a particular day, have a little extra spending cash burning a hole in your pocket, and you absolutely must sit in a theater and watch a film… why not? There are worse films you could watch.

Academic movie

[GridoulovesTO · 4/10 · 23 January 2011]

I just saw that movie at Tiff bell box , it was on the Canada top ten list of this year. This is the first movie of Deborah Show.Pretty amazing cast. The title contrary of what some people thought is really boring it says everything: you are going to see a drama, you are going to experience what life is dealing with.

The story makes us remember of 21 grams without a so specific direction. I would say, its a good movie but nothing in ordinary about it even though the main idea was unique ( I personally never heard about it ), it seems that Deborah didn't show anything specific about her way to direct, but she's maybe too young for that..

Lots of cliché , the direction don't give us any chance to be surprise, in contrary it's pretty sad how much everything we expect to happen, happens.. I was pretty disappointed about some scene which were too neutral, without any emotion contrary of what we could expected.

Moving

[Planet-38 · 10/10 · 13 October 2011]

I am not sure what a movie is supposed to do besides at a minimum provide escapist entertainment, and at most cause one to reflect, on what was just viewed, beyond the closing credits. I guess I am not as sophisticated a movie watcher as the other reviewers that have posted here. I found this a moving and interesting film, as well as thought provoking.

While it definitely did have an indie feel, the main actors both gave solid performances that would stand the scrutiny of more mainstream movie audiences. The premise while perhaps far-fetched to some, was believable to me. There were nuances to the storyline that could have used more development, but I caught them, even if they were fleeting.

In one of the most memorable scenes, Henry (Zach Braff) says something along the lines of individuals being made up of the sum total of decisions they make - at this point, I can't get beyond reflecting on that.

High life in the depths of Montreal

[VikenMekhtarian · 16 August 2011]

I'm ever so grateful for the good things Air Canada does, and it would be great to honour that company for it's successes. The individual touch operated free video monitor in front of each seat, is not a common feature in many other airlines - you won't find them in any US Airlines, i was sad to learn. What it provided is a large selection of movies, TV shows, news, from a variety of sources that you can watch, pause, stop and come back to it later in the flight. One one flight from Vancouver to LA, I saw "The High Cost of Living" in the Canadiana movies folder. Having been a great fan of Zach Braff from Scrubs, then Garden State, I was excited to give it a try. I was so happy I did. It was a jewel of a film, shot in Montreal, with a bilingual - sometimes trilingual - cast who, hold their own, but don't overshadow the Hollywood star. This movie could be seen as Zach's Apocalypse now, where the terrible circumstances the film portrays allows the actor to show some good depth. It's not a feel good movie, and Zach is not a hero. He is looking like a man who is nearing middle age and who feels the best parts of his life are already behind him. In fact, Zach's chuteness (Charm and Cuteness) from his previous works, fits in perfectly with the story to draw the portrait of a man who is truly pathetic - a broken man who is living on the drudges of society spiraling down. Until in one terrible night he runs over a beautiful and caring pregnant woman and does a hit and run. It's a clash of cultures and lifestyles. What ensues is a sometimes uncomfortable pursuit of a guilt ridden man trying to atone for his cowardice. Despite the dire picture I painted above, it's still quite a funny movie but never straying to far from sadness, though it's hard not to feel good after the movie ends, well at least, grateful that you are not them. Watch this movie!

Deserves better rating

[anonimus_0011 · 10/10 · 16 September 2012]

I've just finished watching this movie and I must admit I didn't expect it to be as great as I think it was. First of all, the plot was original. When I read what was the movie about I automatically wanted to give it a try which now I think was a good impulse. The cast was unknown to me with the exception of Zach Braff whom I consider a great actor after seeing "The last Kiss" and "Garden State".

Second, the narration of the story was well done and I think there was nothing else to ad, of course the ending leave me hanging because I wanted to know what was going to happen next but nevertheless was a terrific ending. I just wish the movie could show all of that on the rating, the current one doesn't make it justice. I highly recommend it!

The High Cost of Living

[Dfschohr-532-549658 · 10/10 · 17 November 2013]

When I saw Garden State Zach Braff won me over with his writing, directing, and acting skills. Now he has not written or directed a full film since, but he has most certainly acted in a bunch. The High Cost of Living marks Braff's finest acting work yet.

Henry Welles is an American drug dealer living in Montreal, and one night after turning down the wrong way on a one way street, he strikes a pregnant women, and leaves her lying there in the road. With his conscience weighing on him, and not knowing what happened to the women, he tracks her down, and they slowly develop a relationship, without her knowing he is the one responsible for the accident.

When I saw the trailer I thought I had this film figured out. I was wrong, and I give full credit to who ever cut the trailer because they decided to leave out a key part of the story. Im not gonna give it away but it makes the film that much more authentic. Isabelle Blais is absolutely spectacular Nathalie, the pregnant women. This is the first film I have seen her in as a leading actress, and she is very relaxed, she knows how to play with her emotions to make for the best scene.

The same can be said for Braff who in my opinion deserves an Oscar nomination. His subtlety of delivering complex, emotional dialogue is extremely accurate. When he is on screen by himself, he knows how to fill the frame with his body language. He knows how to make the audience connect with his character's. Braff is similar to how Natalie Portman acts, and I guess thats why they work so well together in Garden State.

This is Deborah Chow's first full length film, and she could not have done any better. I can't wait to see what is in store for her next. This is the type of film that I inspire to make. A film that keeps the audience fully invested, and intrigued by it's characters, and scenery. I doubt the film will get a wide release, but I was able to watch the film on Time Warner Cable's On Demand, Tribeca Film Festival category. So if you have that category on your On Demand check out the film. I give The High Cost of Living a 10 out of 10

A tragic love story

[theshillbuster · 8/10 · 21 July 2020]

Henry finds himself falling in love with the victim. It's a very tragic story, I watched it with the French spoken, but with subtitles. All of the English was spoken in English. This movie is filled with sorrow and love. If the two had met under different conditions ,it is believable that they would of made a very loving couple. Good acting. Her husband is not a very good person. She deserved better. I liked both of the two main characters very much. They had good chemistry.

The High Cost of Living, perfect title

[pavo1994 · 10/10 · 30 June 2020]

Terrifically emotive film. Almost too much to bear watching at times. I was, i guess surprised that only two other reviewer here seem to have experienced it in a similar way. At least, I'm not the only one.