Everything is going oh so perfectly in Angie and Russ' lives. They've got a big house, an enduring marriage and a baby on the way. They're insulated from everything awful, yet "Everything Put Together" shows their vulnerability and the transience of their well-being. A sober and skillfully rendered portrait of the American Dream unraveling, "Everything Put Together" is one of the most visually accomplished and emotionally provocative films in the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

No yuppie magazine could find a better poster couple than Russ (Justin Louis) and Angie (Radha Mitchell). They're attractive, intelligent and endearingly supportive of one another. Also, they're blessed with friends who commiserate and compare notes on Angie's pregnancy. All is going well, especially the pregnancy. Everything is wonderfully normal, in no small part due to the fact that Angie is doing all the right things.

Yet this oh-so-pretty picture falls apart when merely hours after her baby boy's birth, the child unexpectedly dies from sudden infant death syndrome. It happens, the doctors explain, and nobody knows what causes it or what to do about it. It's a staggering blow to Angie, and even kind, supportive nourishment from her husband does not keep her from sinking into a sharp malaise. Her behavior becomes erratic and frightening to her friends. Indeed, her friends turn out to be the fair-weather variety, and Angie becomes isolated in her torment.

A compassionate character portrait of what can happen when tragedy unexpectedly strikes, "Everything Put Together" shows the full strains of one woman's burden and isolation. Poignantly scripted by a triumvirate of writers (Adam Forgash, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Marc Forster),it's a wrenching story of personal loss and overwhelming heartache. Much of the film's power derives from Mitchell's acutely etched performance as the grief-stricken mother, a woman who has always relied on the security of her blessed and well-ordered world. Plaudits to Louis for his compact portrayal of Angie's well-meaning husband, conveying the quiet strength of a man forced to walk on eggs.

Everything works in "Everything Put Together," a testament to the sophistication and skills of director Marc Forster. Under his guiding hand, the technical contributions are alive and vital, telling us as much about the character's suffering and strength as the story itself. In particular, Roberto Schaefer's cinematography is a masterwork of telling compositions: His framings, some askew and some straight on, point us to the fullest story dimensions and character depths.

Angie (Radha Mitchell) is pregnant and is having course with her friends, Barbie (Megan Mullally) and Judith (Catherine Lloyd Burns),who are also pregnant. Her husband is in love with her, and they both are preparing carefully the baby's room. Her mother is a busy woman living in another town and does not pay much attention to her. On the delivery, Angie has a beautiful and perfect son, Gabriel, who dies less than twenty-four hours after of `sudden death', without any apparent reason. This is the beginning of Angie´s journey to hell, with the loss not only of the baby, but also of her shallow friendships. This sad movie is very well directed by Marc Foster. All the cast has a great performance, but Radha Mitchell is magnificent. Forbidden for pregnant women. My vote is seven.

Marc Foster's "Everything Put Together" reminds me slightly of Henry Jaglom's 1994 "Babyfever". Both tell of women as friends and mothers to be, the joy and gaiety while looking forward to the arrival of a baby. But there's a drastic difference between the two: Foster's film went beyond the point of 'entertainment.' It's raising the consciousness to the tragedy and pains of parents losing their newborn to SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - a cause unknown event that may not happen to one's life until the circumstance unexpectedly presents itself.

This film has a similar flavor to the Indie 2000 "George Washington" (w-d: David Gordon Green) - small film, down to earth people, casual feel camerawork with creative angles/effects applied. The subject matter is not your Hollywood safe theme but one that does need to be told and to prompt the awareness of the masses in like situations.

Besides the fact that Marc Foster directed the upcoming due for wide release "Monster's Ball," the name Radha Mitchell drew me to this film. I appreciate her exceptional performance as Syd opposite Ally Sheedy in Lisa Cholodenko's "High Art" 1998. I like the paired energy of Mitchell and Vin Diesel in the 2000 sci-fi "Pitch Black" even though the storyline was slim. It's heart-warming to see her support as one of the producers of this Indie film. Yes, not much publicity - I saw the film with only a handful few on the Friday of its one-week limited release in SF at the Landmark's.

Mitchell gave an impressive controlled performance as Angie, a new mother who so very suddenly lost her newborn. It was hauntingly forlorn seeing her at a lost and how the cheery circle of friends, of pregnant women and new mothers, disappears so quickly into nothingness. This is not "Amélie" fantasyland, this is personal emotions cruelly real. It's reaching out and touching no one. Justin Louis as husband Russ is barely the only support, hardly her emotional crutch. The ambient sound effects and the music by Thomas Koppel enhance the camerawork. The story is hard medicine - uneasy to swallow (that we could possibly be reacting just like Angie's friends and neighbors, having the same fears and callous behaviors; that hospital medical staff attitudes can be insensitive to patients' unfortunate situations...) - such incisive insights!

The length of the film is 1 hr. 27 mins. However, when the end seems inevitable, I felt I don't want it to end just yet - wanted to go on a bit more beyond the very Swiss screen approach we see… I hope it did not result from under social pressures to please or conform…would like to think that she and Russ did came through and that her grief over baby Gabriel has grown into selective pleasant memories and renewed outlook.

Definitely a worthwhile film to appreciate. Thank you to the people and efforts in the production of this film.