"Time After Time"

I've never been a fan of Claire Danes, not since she wailed her way through "Romeo and Juliet." She was tolerable in "Stardust," glowing quite prettily as Yvaine, the star. But it's in this one scene in "Evening," another film adaptation of a splendid novel, that she impresses.

She surprises with her singing - tender, untrained - but it's the way she gazes at her friend (played by Mamie Gummer, Meryl Streep's real-life daughter) as she sings that really makes the scene. By turns, she is nervous, thrilled, brimming with happiness, love, and hope for Lila, especially in the opening strains of the song. Of course, Mamie Gummer's Lila Wittenborn looking uncannily like a college friend of mine made it that much more poignant for me. And then the palpable emotions among the four main characters. What a story they tell in those three minutes.