''Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'' is a 2002 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Rebecca Miller Rebecca Augusta Miller, Lady Day-Lewis (born September 15, 1962) is an American filmmaker and novelist. She is known for her films '' Angela'' (1995), '' Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'' (2002), '' The Ballad of Jack and Rose'' (2005), '' Th ...

. It stars

Kyra Sedgwick Kyra Minturn Sedgwick ( ; born August 19, 1965) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the crime drama ''The Closer'' (2005–2012), for which she won a Golden ...

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress. Known for playing eccentric characters in independent films, she was named "Queen of the Indies" by ''Time'' in 1997. She has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

, and

Fairuza Balk Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American actress, musician, and visual artist. Known for her portrayals of distinctive characters—often with a dark edge and " goth-girl" persona—she has appeared in numerous independent films and block ...

as three women who escape from their afflicted lives as each struggles to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom. ''Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'' premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 12, 2002, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Excellence in Cinematography Award. It was theatrically released in the United States on November 22, 2002 to positive reviews from critics. At the

18th Independent Spirit Awards The 18th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 2002, were presented on March 22, 2003. It was hosted by John Waters. The nominations were announced on December 12, 2002. Additionally, this ceremony is notable ...

, Miller won the John Cassavetes Award, while Posey was nominated for Best Female Lead, and Kuras was nominated for Best Cinematography.

Plot

''Personal Velocity'' is a tale of three women who have reached a turning point in their lives. Delia is a spirited, working-class woman from a small town in

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

who leaves her abusive husband and sets out on a journey to reclaim the power she has lost. Greta is a sharp, spunky editor who is rotten with ambition. To spite the hated unfaithful ways of her father, she has settled into a complacent relationship and is struggling (not too hard) with issues of fidelity to her kind but unexciting husband. Finally Paula, who ran away from home and got pregnant, is now in a relationship she doesn't want. She's a troubled young woman who takes off on a journey with a hitchhiker after a strange, fateful encounter on a New York street.

Cast

as Delia Shunt *

as Greta Herskowitz *

as Paula *

John Ventimiglia John Ventimiglia (, ; born ) is an American actor. He portrayed Artie Bucco in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos'' and had a recurring role as Dino Arbogast, an Organized Crime Control Bureau Chief for the NYPD, on the American police pr ...

as Narrator * Ron Leibman as Avram Herskovitz *

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter. He is known for playing Vizzini in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Mr. Hall in '' Clueless'' (1995), Dr. John Sturgis in '' Young Sheldo ...

as Mr. Gelb *

Susan Blommaert Susan J. Blommaert (born October 13, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mr. Kaplan on the drama series The Blacklist, and for her recurring role as Judge Rebecca Steinman in ''Law & Order'', '' Law & Order: Special V ...

as Mrs. Toron * David Warshofsky as Kurt Wurtzle *

Leo Fitzpatrick Leonardo Aurellio Randy Fitzpatrick (born August 10, 1978) is an American actor and co-director of the Marlborough Chelsea gallery. He is best known as Telly in '' Kids'' (1995) and Johnny Weeks in ''The Wire'' (2002–2004). Career He was ...

as Mylert *

Tim Guinee Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington in ...

as Lee * Nicole Murphy as May Wurtzle

Release

Critical reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 103 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus states that the film is an "uneven, but a keenly observed and well-acted film about three women's lives." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Sundance Grand Jury Prize Dramatic 2002 films American drama films 2002 drama films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films Films about domestic violence Films directed by Rebecca Miller United Artists films American independent films 2002 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films John Cassavetes Award winners English-language independent films