FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Phil Morrison. Produced by: Mindy Goldberg & Mike S. Ryan. Written by: Angus MacLachlan. Director of Photography: Peter Donahue. Edited by: Joe Klotz. Music by: Yo La Tengo. Released by: Sony Pictures Classics. Country of Origin: USA. 107 min. Rated: R. With: Amy Adams, Embeth Davidtz, Ben McKenzie, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Celia Weston & Scott Wilson. DVD Features: Commentary by Amy Adams & Embeth Davidtz. Deleted scenes. Behind-the-scenes places & faces featurette. Casting sessions. Outsider art photo gallery. Trailers.
Director Phil Morrison’s darkly comedic drama rapidly unfolds with
the homecoming of successful native son George
Johnsten (Alessandro Nivola). Living in Chicago, he fell
in love with Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a world-traveled, sophisticated art
dealer, whom he promptly married. Six months later, the couple combine
business with presumed pleasure. When pursuing a contract with an
outsider artist (Frank Hoyt Taylor) who lives near George's family, Madeleine sees the trip as the
opportune moment to meet her new in-laws in their small North Carolinian town.
Outwardly loving and open-minded, Madeleine finds
much of the Johnsten’s cozy, down-home lifestyle to be more complex than meets the
eye; she has bumped into a territory of manners and sensibilities quite different
from her own. George's younger brother, Johnny (Ben McKenzie), welcomes
her with the same begrudging antagonism he treats his whole family;
George's parents are cordially distant; and Johnny's wife, the child-like Ashley (a delightful Amy
Adams in a layered performance) is the one person who immediately embraces Madeleine, and
does so to an unsettling extreme degree. With the exception of Ashley,
the whole community exudes a neighborly but self-protective provinciality towards
Madeleine. Like the artist's
work, which erotically renders events of the Civil War, the townsfolk reflect a
homogeneous and bigoted side of the area's cloistered past and present.
In a most graceful and gracious performance, Davidtz gives
Madeleine an eloquent poise and warmth that allows the viewer to suspend
judgment on all with whom she interacts. As George's mother, Celia
Weston provides an engaging and understated balance of
malaise and matriarch, and Scott Wilson brings to George's taciturn father a
combination of simple-mindedness and soulful simplicity.
Where the story only becomes vague is in its sparse integration of George. It
seems more a problem with Angus MacLachlan's script than that of
Nivola's performance. The viewer is left to surmise that much of George's
absence is based on his need for personal
space away from his family. Max Rennix, actor & writer based in New York
DVD Extras: The auditions of Amy Adams and Ben McKenzie are the best of
the special features. To see their work
before they had won their roles makes their talent even more
appreciated. It is also remarkable how they evolved to make their readings more like what was in the movie. In the best of the behind-the-scenes, Alessandro
Nivola learns the hymn he sings in the film, and the audio commentary with Adams and Davidtz is charming, more like two friends catching up.
But the only deleted scene worth watching is
the final one. It helps resolve Johnny's transformation in a way the movie doesn't. Lauren Hines
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