Jennifer Jason Leigh Books

I loved this book.

Although Josie is a hard-core, difficult young woman, her pain is real.

Fitch weaves Josie's present pain into the story of her love, the story of her childhood, and the story of her coming to terms with herself.

I thought this book might be too painful to read, but instead, it is mesmerizing, beautiful, and deeply involving. Los Angeles is depicted in its various neighborhoods. The prose is clear and brilliant, and except for Josie's need for it and the difficulties of Michael's mother, nothing is "Painted . . . Black."

READ THIS BOOK!

I have to hand it to Ms. Fitch. She sure can write. It is a down to the bone look at relationships and suicide. It made me cry often. It also really reminded me of a two person play akin to Tennessee Williams. Not many authors can do this and Ms. Fitch is masterful at her craft. Not for the meek or those unaccustomed to searching their own souls. Thank you for another unordinary novel. The characters will stick with me for a long time.

"Paint it Black" captures that throbbing ache that is being a young girl faced with a great tragedy...made worse by the fact that the tragedy is a Prince Charming-ish first love. Josie, the art model main character, longs, pines, grieves with keen intensity. Her process of mourning is set against a vibrant back drop of 80s punk/alt Los Angeles. Plenty emo. Though the backdrop is vibrant and exciting, the reader can't help but feel the emptiness of this scene when reminded of the heroine's loss. When you don't have that special person to keep sharing life with, is anything worthwhile?
Fitch also crosses into territory that is much in need of exploration in terms of class. This book delineates class differences in America in a very real way...no one talks about this enough. We blindly pretend it doesn't matter. Josie finds out in subtle ways how it does and when it doesn't.
In all, an excellent read for those who dare dive into emotional waters and Angelenophiles.

Janet Finch is amazing. She turns sentences into works of art and in order to appreciate them you must be intelligent. To rate this book at a 1 or 2 is totally unfair to the potential reader and author. One must be able to appreciate the dark side of the human soul and the complexity with which the human mind struggles to do the right thing. If you enjoy an author that totally amazes you with her talent and characters who are troubled, you will really enjoy this book! I hope it doesn't take Janet as long to write her 3rd book as it did her 2nd.

After reading Janet Fitch's first novel, White Oleander, I was excited for her newest one, Paint it Black, but upon reading it discovered it to be an utter disappointment. It almost seems to be written by a different author;it's the simile-happy story of Josie Tyrell, a stereotypical 'it' girl in the 80's LA punk scene. Every sentence reemphasizes just how messed up this Josie is and how awful it is that everyone judges her because of her damn yellow coat.
Don't get me wrong, the story itself is worthwhile, but the incessant references to musicians and artists got in the way of the plot and will bug the hell out of anyone.Fitch should have stuck to her original writing style-ahem White Oleander-instead of opting for this more undeveloped one. I wouldn't advise reading this book if you enjoyed White Oleander.

This movie has a good story. It is about a biracial teen named Rain (Brooklyn Sudano) raised by a poor but good family in the ghetto that is torn apart by violence. As Rain's adoptive mother, Khandi Alexander gives a wonderful performance as a mother who will sacrifice everything to save her children's lives. The love between Rain, her mother and adoptive brother is palpable. The problems I find with this part of the movie is it portrays all black men (except the brother) as trash talking, violent thugs or gamblers. It feels like these men were written by a white man who fears black men. The other reason this part of the movie suffers is because the villain is a 50 Cents clone with only one comically "menacing" expression that is unintentionally funny. Because of him, you know exactly what will happen in the first third of this movie and what will happen to Rain's sister. I also found myself frustrated that Brooklyn Sudano's beautiful voice was stuck singing the same song through the entire movie. How about a second song? Considering the words, it really only needed to be used at the end to give it more power.

After witnessing terrible violence, Rain's adoptive mother sends her to live with her birth family. Faye Dunaway shines through her subtle but powerful performance as the grandmother who reluctantly takes in this stranger who turns out to be her kindred spirit. She and her best friend, played by Robert Loggia, become surrogate parents to Rain and the chemistry between the three not only feels real but also saves this movie. I almost stopped watching the movie because I thought the first 30 minutes were painful and not very good but I would have missed a true gem later. I also loved Rain's biological mother and aunt. The story was smart in having the mother, Mrs. Randolph, make no attempt to try to be a mother to the child she never wanted to see again. In choosing to treat Rain like an interesting stranger that she comes to like, it makes each scene between the two compelling. And the scene where Rain meets her Aunt Victoria is priceless! It is one of my favorites in the film. You can almost see the set up for the rest of the Hudson series in this moment.

I was frustrated though because you can tell from the original trailer that there was clearly a romance between Rain and arrogant rich kid, Corbette, who admired her beauty and talent. To get close to her, he asks to do a "duet" with her. I thought a duet was usually when two people sang but clearly that is not the case here as he only strums the guitar. It's as if the lack of chemistry between the two made the producers cut this storyline which leaves the remaining scenes between Rain and Corbette in the film feeling awkward and choppy. It is part of the reason I feel I cannot give the movie four stars even despite the bad start of the movie. The other reason is that the bad 50 Cent clone that has been dogging Rain's steps through the entire movie suddenly makes a 180 half way through the film that is so unbelievable, it's laughable. This man is wanted for a list of crimes longer than the turnpike. He has a clear opportunity to kill Rain half way through the movie and doesn't. It really hurts the credibility of the film. But it is still a good movie and overall very enjoyable to watch despite the unforgivable lack of extras (including deleted scenes) on the DVD.

Unquestionably the worst movie I have seen in 10 years. I am not making this statement to be sensational. Everything about this movie is amateurish. There were occasional well acted scenes by the lead, but Faye Dunaway should be embarrassed by her performance. The scenes were disjointed and there were too many over-emotional (not believable) moments. A complete waste of time.

I've read VC Andrews since I was a child. Personally I think they should have made a movie about the Casteel Series before the Hudson Series. I still purchased the DVD b/c I am a loyal reader. It didn't follow the story of the book which is normal for most movies. It's just that certain things were so off, like in the book Rain was into theater, in the movie she was a singer. I can understand changing some things to make it flow better as a movie but changing things about the character just seemed unnecessary and it left a bad taste in my mouth. If you are a VC Andrews fan I would buy this dvd just to add it to your collection but I'd recommend you DO NOT read Rain before watching it.

I am not a fan of V.C. Andrews work - or the ghostwriter. I approached this for the first time as a movie that an old acquaintance, Brooklyn Sudano, was in. That having been said, I definitely enjoyed the movie - I thought the plot was creative - even though tried and true - had enough nuances to keep my attention.

I thought the book was a neat extra - but I would have loved to have seen more, a featurette, and some interviews.

I loved it! I sincerely hope they will make more V.C. Andrews movies and mini-series! The movie was excellently done; wonderful music score; and perfect casting. And it makes you want to read the entire series.