Top 10 of 2005: #3

November dir. Greg Harrison

I never thought a 73 minute movie would affect me as much as November did. Not only is it challenging and perplexing, it also offers Courteney Cox's best performance to date. November takes us through a moment in Sophie Jacob's (Cox) life. She and her boyfriend (James LeGros) stop at a corner store to get some food. Sophie persuades Hugh to go in and get her some chocolate while she waits in the car. As Hugh is ready to purchase the chocolate, a robber comes in and he is gunned down. Meanwhile Sophie doesn't notice a thing in the car, while getting a call from her lover Jesse (Michael Ealy). With Hugh dead, Sophie seems to enter a state of depression. Daily visits to a psychiatrist (Nora Dunn) and dinner with her mother (Anne Archer) do nothing to help. What also adds to the distress is while teaching a photography class, Sophie finds a picture of herself waiting in her car, outside of the store, on the night of Hugh's death in a slide. This is when November starts to go haywire on us. To say anything more would be ruining the experience, so I'll stop. Greg Harrison directs this movie fantastically and with the movie's muddy green tint, it adds to the experience. The screenplay by Benjamin Brand is taut and exciting, never letting up from the tension and suspense. Courteney Cox gives an excellent performance. Shedding every inch of "Monica", Cox gives a strong and mysterious performance as Sophie. She knows this character inside and out and fully fleshes her out on the screen. LeGros, Ealy, Dunn and Archer are all great as well with their small but vital characters. This movie is a great one and really makes you think long and hard after watching it. One of the best psychological thrillers I have ever seen and a compact masterpiece in every sense of the word.