I first saw The Sisters at my local film festival last year and I thought it was great. I wrote a glowing review of it, and was also able to attend a Q&A with the filmmakers. It went on to win the Audience Choice Award. So, when it came up for review, I immediately grabbed it.

When watching a movie through the second time, you seem to notice the small details, pay more attention to the dialogue, and focus a bit more on the good things. Such was my experience with The Sisters. I noticed a few details that had escaped my attention the first time, some of the small gestures that accentuate the performances. I also noticed however, the flaws that had evaded my notice, such as the overwritten dialogue, which is present through much of the film. One might expect this as the movie's screenplay is adapted by Richard Alfieri from his own play that he based upon Anton Chekhov's play "The Three Sisters." However, the wordy screenplay doesn't interfere too much with the film largely due to the fact that every single member of the cast puts their all into their performances.

Maria Bello is particularly astounding in her role as Marcia (The Beautiful One as she was dubbed by her father), although the same can easily be said for every other member of the cast. They all manage to imbue their respective characters with a feeling of real emotion.

Where The Sisters succeeds most is during the verbal jousting scenes that thankfully take up a large portion of the film. In these, the over-weighted dialogue is utilized to the movie's advantage and the insults and witticisms are second to none. All of the charactes present during these scenes have built up their own near-impenetrable walls so as to make the occasional insult that penetrates deeper a special affair, and one worth watching for.

True, each character seems to have an inordinate number of problems, but just when things start becoming too overwhelming, too stagey, too overdone, the sharp-tongued Gary Sokol (Eric McCormack) will come to the rescue with a sly comment, grounding the other characters. The movie is actually a bit like a play, with the faculty lounge serving as the main stage, from which characters come and go but we the audience rarely leave. The feeling of claustrophobia that could easily take over in this type of setting never does though, perhaps due to the rather large dimensions of the lounge.

So, after watching The Sisters for a second time, I came away with a perhaps more balanced view on the film. In one sense, it is heavy handed and overbearing sometimes. On the flip side though, every actor gives a superb performance (again, Mario Bello is amazing) and the movie does grab your attention. For fans of ensemble dramas, any of the actors in this movie, or fans of independent films, you should find The Sisters a satisfying experience.

The DVD itself is a bit lacking in features with only commentaries by director Arthur Allan Seidelman and writer Richard Alfieri. The video is formated in Widescreen (1.85) and features a 5.1 audio track. The Sisters is rated R.