A film like Personal Effects is supposed to be gripping, unfortunately the plot doesn't develop much, it's even boring, it doesn't engage the audience at all, the pace is very slow, trying to add to that with icy tones and lots of close-ups the content of the plot. Walter and Linda's characters are still pretty bland, and Michelle Marie Pfeiffer can't be blamed for that, although viewers do see her trying to make her characters work a little bit. Christopher Ashton Kutcher, on the other hand, is a complete bum, and he's clearly more suited to comedy. There's also no tension between Kutcher and Pfeiffer, which makes their romance even more incredible
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"Personal Effects" is an adaptation of Rick Moody's short story "The Ice Storm," which features characters plagued by grief, working in horrific environments and with minimal mental abilities. In the hands of a seasoned director, or one with atypical sensitivities, there might be something remarkably cathartic to extract from the material, and TV director David Holland is not the job suitable candidates. Holland treats the film as a traditional screen elegy, not a film about humans. It's an odd approach for a feature that ultimately requires a lot of emotional input from the audience. It's an icy quality that waits patiently for the actors to come and give it meaning. However, one of the performers, Kutcher, threw Holland's plans into a bit of a quandary
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