Take This Waltz

Be the first to write a review

Overview

Sarah Polley's sophomore directorial effort Take This Waltz stars Michelle Williams as Margot, a 28-year-old Toronto woman who has been married for five years to Lou Seth Rogen, a cookbook author who specializes in chicken dishes. One day she meets Daniel Luke Kirby her neighbor across the street, and there is a quick and lasting connection between the two. While she remains faithful to Lou, she finds herself drawn more and more to this seemingly perfect other man. Eventually, Margot is forced to confront the ...
See more details below
DVD (Wide Screen / Subtitled)
$18.89
BN.com price
(Save 30%)$26.99 List Price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (DVD)
  • All (18) from $5.93   
  • New (15) from $17.05   
  • Used (3) from $5.93   

More About This Product

Overview

Sarah Polley's sophomore directorial effort Take This Waltz stars Michelle Williams as Margot, a 28-year-old Toronto woman who has been married for five years to Lou Seth Rogen, a cookbook author who specializes in chicken dishes. One day she meets Daniel Luke Kirby her neighbor across the street, and there is a quick and lasting connection between the two. While she remains faithful to Lou, she finds herself drawn more and more to this seemingly perfect other man. Eventually, Margot is forced to confront the truth about herself, and share her feelings with her unsuspecting husband. Take This Waltz had its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
Read More Show Less

Special Features

Closed Caption; Making of: Taking the Waltz; AXS TV: A Look at Take This Waltz ; Trailer
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert
Let's talk about the idea of rapture, not in the Biblical sense, but in the secular world. The definitions of the word reveal that it can mean both a state of ecstasy and the concept of being swept away from your current surroundings. Much of the time, moviegoers are looking for exactly this feeling, although we usually just call it escapism. Writer/director Sarah Polley's second film, Take This Waltz, is a penetrating and engrossing character study about a woman looking to be enraptured that enraptures its audience at the same time. Margot Michelle Williams is a 28-year-old freelance writer who has been married for a few years to Lou Seth Rogen, a cookbook author specializing in chicken dishes. While on an assignment, Margot meets Daniel Luke Kirby, strikes up a mildly flirtatious conversation with him during their flight home to Toronto, and discovers that the handsome young man recently moved in across the street from her and Lou. Over the course of a few weeks, she finds herself spending more and more time with this intriguing new acquaintance -- filled with a desire that she both wants to give in to and run away from -- and she is soon questioning her marriage for the first time. First off, if there was ever any question that Michelle Williams isn't the best American actress of her generation, Take This Waltz ends the debate. Margot is an emotional mess, allowing herself to be caught up in the allure of attraction even as she tries to do right by her husband. We can see her resistance weaken inch by inch, and sometimes yard by yard, each time she is around Daniel. They have a conversation in a diner in which Margot asks Daniel to describe how he would make love to her, and his monologue -- a direct, sensuous, and plainly erotic speech -- is so overwhelming that Margot flushes with excitement, and possibly a twinge of embarrassment. It's a remarkable piece of acting Williams pulls off in that scene, as she makes us feel like Margot is being told something she didn't even know she was longing to hear. It's just one of numerous standout scenes for this uncommonly gifted actress. Although the film is very much about Margot, the other cast members are just as strong. Kirby could easily have played his sexy bohemian artist as little more than an opportunistic himbo, but he's as tentative about their mutual affection as she is. There's a scene in which he explains why he can't make a pass at her, and he delivers his lines with a combination of regret, frustration, and anger that reminds us how Margot's actions affect everyone around her. Sarah Silverman has a small part as Margot's sister-in-law, a recovering alcoholic whose own issues mirror Margot's in illuminating ways, and Polley uses her character to further explore how we sometimes hurt the people we love just by being who we are. However, the biggest surprise comes from Seth Rogen, who shows off his rarely revealed dramatic chops most powerfully in his final two scenes of the film. This is the kind of movie in which everyone is a multifaceted, complicated human being. There are no easy answers for Margot's problems, and yet, even while these tumultuous feelings roil inside her -- and inside us -- the film scores consistent laughs not out of embarrassment or discomfort, but because each of the characters is smart and witty. Some will be rightfully fooled into describing Take This Waltz as a romantic comedy, but the movie's laughs add to the humanity of the people in it instead of mocking them. One of the film's biggest symbols is an amusement-park ride that Margot describes as one of her favorite places to go in the world. It's an old-fashioned scrambler, and she enjoys the out-of-control feeling it gives her. As a writer, Sarah Polley uses this bit of business to reveal much about Margot's psychological makeup -- she's hinting at the possibility that the character might never really be able to settle down. And as a director, Polley shows us Margot on the ride, allowing the camera to spin with a dizzying energy that visually articulates the buzz her main character is experiencing. It's one of the few overtly flashy directorial moments in the movie, but not the only one, and when she employs a restlessly moving camera later in the film, it helps underscore why Margot makes more unexpected decisions. While the movie powerfully communicates the rush of falling in love that everyone feels at some point, Polley slyly undercuts the idea of letting this feeling dominate our lives. It's impossible to always live like that, and it's the subtle -- and not-so-subtle -- reminders of this that give Take This Waltz its overwhelming power. The first time we see Margot on the scrambler, the Buggles' song "Video Killed the Radio Star" blasts from the soundtrack -- a tune that signifies how surface pleasures and instant gratification can often be a detriment to genuine meaning and depth. That's just one moment of many Polley threads into her script to let the audience know that, no matter how you feel about Margot, rapture sometimes comes at a price. This is an engrossing, richly humanistic masterpiece that allows Sarah Polley to join the ranks of world-class filmmakers. Her impressive debut, Away From Her, showed a depth beyond her years, and this is an even more profound and ambitious work -- as you're watching it, you experience the exhilarating joy of seeing an artist discover her voice. Take This Waltz will make you feel like you're in love again, and it will make you think about what that really means.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/23/2012
  • UPC: 876964004954
  • Original Release: 2011

    • Rating:

  • Source: Magnolia
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Wide Screen / Subtitled
  • Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
  • Time: 1:56:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 5,136

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Michelle Williams Margo, Margot
Seth Rogen Lou
Luke Kirby Daniel
Sarah Silverman , Geraldine
Diane D'Aquila , Harriet
Jennifer Podemski Karen
Dustin Peters , Threesome Dude
Aaron Abrams , Aaron
Vanessa Coelho Tony
Graham Abbey James
Damien Atkins Aquafit Instructor
Dyan Bell Dyan
Albert Howell Albert
Danielle Miller Danielle
Matt Baram Matt
Avi Phillips Avi
Diane Flacks Diane
Cheryl MacInnis Flight Attendant
Ciaran MacGillivray Soldier
Roy MacNeil Period Priest
Sandy MacLean Town Crier
John Dunsworth Tourist
Barneita Runnings Shower Lady #1
Mary Pitt Shower Lady #2
Rosalind Feldman Shower Lady #3
Mike Follert Man on the Porch
Jean-Michel Le Gal Police Officer
Samantha Farrow Threesome Lady
Technical Credits
Sarah Polley Director, Producer, Screenwriter
John Buchan Casting
Lea Carlson Costumes/Costume Designer
Susan Cavan Producer
Jody Colero Musical Direction/Supervision
Matthew Davies Production Designer
Christopher Donaldson Editor
Jonathan Goldsmith Score Composer
Sean Jensen Camera Operator
Joanne Jackson Production Manager
Jason Knight Casting
Aleks Marinkovich Art Director
Luc Montpellier Cinematographer
Daniel J. Murphy Asst. Director
David Sandomierski Associate Producer
John Thompson Sound/Sound Designer
John J. Thomson Sound Mixer
Read More Show Less

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Take This Waltz
1. How It Started [6:30]
2. You Look Familiar [8:18]
3. I Love You So Much [5:42]
4. It's a New Day [4:47]
5. Today You Got Me [8:51]
6. It's Lonley Up There [7:37]
7. What's The Point [9:10]
8. Takes Courage [5:08]
9. Going for a Swim [4:46]
10. Welcome to the Neighborhood [9:07]
11. The Day Together [8:09]
12. I'm Drinking And I'm Dancing [7:17]
13. Something Was Wrong [10:17]
14. Take This Waltz [5:28]
15. The Big Picture [10:55]
16. End Credits [4:06]
Read More Show Less

Menu

Disc #1 -- Take This Waltz
   Play Movie
   Scene Selections
   Special Features
      Making Of: Taking The Waltz
      AXS TV: A Look at Take This Waltz
      Theatrical Trailer
      Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment
   Set Up
      Audio
         English 5.1 Dolby Digital
      Subtitles
         Spanish
         Subtitles: None
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously