The Event (2003)

.

”It’s a lot more complicated than you think.”
Detective Nick Devivo (Parker Posey) is assigned to investigate the apparent suicide of Matt Shapiro (Don McKellar) –- one of several recent suicidesthe Chelsea district of NYC.

Soon she is talking to Brian Knight (Brent Carver) who runs a holistic center for people with AIDS. Brian had been present when Matt died.

Matt’s mother Lila (Olympia Dukakis) and sister Dana (Sarah Polley) have accepted the fact that Matt was gay, had AIDS and took his own life, but his other sister, Gaby Shapiro-Schnell (Joanna P. Adler), is angry and bitter. When questioned by Nick, Gaby goes to Matt’s apartment and finds evidence that there was a celebration of life just prior to Matt’s death.

Also appearing are Jane Leeves as Matt’s lesbian friend and psychologist Mona Rothschild; Dick Latessa as Uncle Leo; Rejean J. Cournoyer as the gossipy queen Rory; Chaz Thorne as Chris, Nick’s brother and a cop who Nick recruits to secret into gay club to find evidence; Chase Duffy as the assistant district attorney.

Making a case for assisted suicide for terminally ill people.

Directed by Thom Fitzgerald.

Run time: 1 hour, 50 minute

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

In Country (1989)

.
"...a hole in my heart."
Teenager Samantha Hughes (Emily Lloyd) never knew her father. She was born after he'd died in Vietnam. Her mother (Joan Allen) has remarried and lives in Lexington, Kentucky, while Samantha's Uncle Emmett (Bruce Willis) raised Samantha in their small Kentucky hometown.

When Samantha comes across photos of her father, love letters he'd written to her mother, his dog tags and ribbons, she becomes obsessed with finding out more about him. She questions her uncle about the war since Emmett had also served in Vietnam. She questions three of her uncle's friends (John Terry, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jim Beaver) who were also war vets but she gets little information. She's also trying to find help for Emmett as he's a loose cannon, has symptoms of Agent Orange toxicity, and flashbacks to the war.

Others in the cast include Kevin Anderson as Samantha's boyfriend; Heidi Swedberg as Samantha's best friend; Peggy Rae and Richard Hamilton as her grandparents; Judith Ivey as a women who is smitten with Emmett; and Patricia Richardson as a vet's wife.

From a novel by Bobbie Ann Mason. Directed by Norman Jewison.

Run time: 2 hours

Rated R.

My personal rating: B

All or Nothing (2002)

.
"Funny, isn't it? Love. If you're not together, you're alone."
Phil (Timothy Spall) and Penny's (Lesley Manville) marriage has turned the way many long term marriages go. They live together, along with their two post-school aged children Rachel (Alison Garland) and Rory (James Corden) in an apartment project in London. It appears as though they are all together out of sheer habit rather than an particular bond.

Phil is a cabbie who rather not work hard but he's a gentle soul and morbidly philosophical. Penny works hard as a checker at a big grocery store and then comes home to cook and clean and tend the house. Rachel, a large and plain young woman, works as a housekeeper at a nursing home where she is loved by the residents and pursued by a tragic coworker who is at least her father's age. She seems to have very little to do with her family despite living in the same small space with them. Rory is an obese young man with anger issues and a penchant for aggression and other anti-social behavior.

When a major health concern strikes the family, will it be what they need to pull together as family who really cares about each other and themselves?

Written and directed by Mike Leigh.

Run time: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality.

My personal rating: B-

Indian Runner (1991)

.
The Tale of Two Brothers
Joe (David Morse) and Frank (Viggo Mortensen) Roberts couldn't be two more unlikely brothers. When Frank gets out of prison once again, cop Joe and his wife Maria (Valeria Golino) invite him to come live with them for a while until he can get on track with his life. Along with Frank comes his girlfriend Dorothy (Patricia Arquette).

But Frank's antisocial, violent nature only intensifies when he sees Joe's basic joy with life and ability to find happiness in even small ways.

Also appearing are Charles Bronson and Sandy Dennis as the boys' parents and Dennis Hopper as the neighborhood bar owner.

Based on Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman." Written and directed by Sean Penn.

Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

Rated R for violence, language, and some drug use.

My personal rating: B-

August Evening (2007)

.

"Life can be a disappointment. Even in good times."

Lupe (Veronica Loren), a young widow, lives in Gonzalez, Texas, with her in-laws, Maria (Raquel Gavia) and Jaime (Pedro Castaneda). She's a sullen young woman who resists her in-laws' urgings to date and get on with her life, four years after the death of her husband, their son.

When Maria suddenly dies and Jaime loses his job at the chicken farm, he cannot find other work in town. Jaime and Lupe take a bus to San Antonio to live with his son Victor (Abel Becerra) and his family until they can find work. But the arrangement is not satisfactory to Victor's wife Andrea (Grisel Rodriguez). So Jaime and Lupe move on to live with his daughter, Alice (Sandra Rios) and her husband (Tom Spry) in a San Antonio suburb. But Alice also finds the situation too difficult so Jaime and Lupe take a bus back to Gonzalez where Lupe finds work in a factory and Jaime picks up odd jobs.

Luis (Walter Perez), a neighbor of Victor's, grew smitten with Lupe when Jaime and Lupe lived with Victor, but Lupe rejects all encouragement to become interested in him. She is still grieving the loss of her husband and feels strongly that she needs to help Jaime. But Luis has moved to El Paso and comes to see Lupe and propose to her. Lupe is very confused about what to do.

A tender and loving story of family, though too long and slow moving. Despite that, the film director and several actors won awards at numerous film festivals and the Independent Spirit Award.

Written and directed by Chris Eska.

Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

My personal rating: B

Coast to Coast (2003)

.

"Every time we get together, we kick holes in each other's lives. Why do we do that?"

"Maybe it's the only pleasure we have left ."

Comedy writer Barnaby Pierce (Richard Dreyfuss) and his homemaker wife Maxine (Judy Davis) have a strained marriage. After raising three children and the death of a son, they really seem to have little in common any more.

They've put their home in Maine up for sale and set out in their old Thunderbird heading to California for their son Benjamin's (David Julian Hirsh) wedding. The car is to be a gift to him. But from Maine to California, they have many stops to make.

First it's to Maxine's sister's (Kate Lynch) and her husband (Richard Fitzpatrick) to drop of their dog. There they see the teenaged nephew (Owen Rotharmel) and get a glimpse at his mental illness. Then on to Maxine's college town where she is subcousiously looking for approval for her divorce from her beloved professor Casimir (Maximilian Schell) only to find that he's now divorced his formerly beloved wife and has been married to one of his young graduate students for three years.

From there they head to Chicago to see Barnaby's former writing partner Stanley (Paul Mazursky, who also directed the film) and his second wife. Barnaby talks with Stanley about Stanley's divorce and reasons for them and how is life is now with a younger trophy wife.

Their daughter Stacy (Selma Blair) awaits in Minneapolis where Stacy has strong suspicions about her parents' situation and also springs her own big news.

Onward to Denver to see Hal Kressler (Fred Ward), an old friend of Maxine's. In Beverly Hills, Berry (James Kee), a producer who stiffed Barnaby on a deal years ago.

Along the way, the couple considers why they married in the first place, what they meant to each other, and how they can move on in their lives.

An interesting study in relationships.

Rated R for language including sexual references, and for a scene of sexuality.

Run time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

My personal rating: B

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (2008)

.

"Sometimes you gotta let them go for them to get it."

Wealthy construction company owner Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) and cafe owner Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard) -- two strong, luminous Southern matriarchs -- have been friends for 30 years. Charlotte even paid for and hosted the wedding for Alice's daughter Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) to Christopher (Rockmond Dunbar).

When Charlotte's only child, William (Cole Hauser), attends the wedding, it's obvious that Charlotte has a lot of contempt for him and loathes his wife Jillian (KaDee Strickland). William works for the family construction business Charlotte inherited from her first husband, but Charlotte, who owns controlling interest, doesn't promote him even though he's working hard. Instead, she hires the well educated and experienced Abby (Robin Givens) as Chief Operating Officer of the company.

Andrea, a finance major, and her husband Chris, a construction worker, are both given jobs at the company by William. Her brother-in-law Ben (Tyler Perry, who wrote, directed and produced this film) also works construction for Cartwright while his wife Pam (Taraji P. Henson) works with her mother in the cafe.

Greed, infidelity, and unsavory business practices tear each family apart.

Sebastian Siegel also appears in a small but pivotal role.

The closing song, "I Hope You Dance" sung by Gladys Knight, captures the meaningful moral of the tale.

Run time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, sexual references and brief violence.

My personal rating: B+

Sleepwalking (2008)

.
"You have to face the past before you can let it go."
Joleen (Charlize Theron) loves her 12-year-old daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) and wants to be a good mother, but she doesn't really know how. And she's a wild child still trying to cope with abuse issues from her own childhood.

One day Joleen and Tara show up at the apartment of her brother James (Nick Stahl). James takes them in and tries to help them on his limited income and when Joleen eventually ups and leaves, James is fearful that Tara will be taken away from him, so they hit the road in his old car.

With nowhere else to go, they end up at the farm of James and Joleen's abusive father (Dennis Hopper) and James must decide whether to stay there or spare Tara this tension.

Matthew St. Patrick is the detective who has worried about and tried to help Joleem. Woody Harrelson plays Randall, Joleen's latest boyfriend.

Directed by Bill Maher.

Run Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Rated R for language and a scene of violence.

My personal rating: B-

December Boys (2007)

Four boys -- Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers) and Spit (James Fraser) -- live in an orphanage in Australia's outback. All their birthdays are celebrated in December which creates a special bond between them.

When the Reverend Mother (Judi Farr) and Father Scully (Frank Gallacher) announce that a kindly benefactor has made it possible for the boys to have a December holiday, they are off to a small cove community on the gorgeous coast where they are to live with an old seaman Bandy (Jack Thompson) and his wife Skipper (Kris McQuade).

Here the boys meet Fearless Forte (Sullivan Stapleton), a motorcycle stuntman at the nearby carnival, and his Spanish wife Teresa (Victoria Hill), a teenage girl (Teresa Palmer) visiting her uncle, and a crusty old fisherman (Ralph Cotterill). They also freely explore the area as their own bonds grow. But when the boys discover that Fearless and Teresa may be interested in adopting one of the boys, their loyalty to each other is tested.

Adapted from a novel by Michael Noonan and directed by Rod Hardy.

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity, underage drinking and smoking.

My personal rating: C+

Tara Road (2005)

Marilyn (Andie MacDowell) is reeling with grief over the death of her teenaged son and cannot be consoled by her husband Greg (August Zirner) because she holds him responsible for the boy's death. Ria (Olivia Williams) is shell-shocked after her husband Danny (Iain Glen) announces that he's been having an affair for a long time, his girlfriend is pregnant, and he's leaving Ria and their two children to be with his younger girlfriend.

Even though they don't know each other, Marilyn proposes swapping her large Connecticut home for Ria's lovely Dublin home for a few months to give the women time to reflect on their situations.

Marilyn, who really wants to be left alone to ponder, finds herself pulled into the lives of Ria's friends Colm (Stephen Rea) and Rosemary (Maria Doyle Kennedy) plus Ria's teenage daughter Annie (Sarah Bolger) and young son Brian (Johnny Brennan), and even in Danny's life. At the same time, Ria is surrounded by Marilyn's friends -- the zany Carlotta (Ruby Wax), the flamboyant Henry and Zach (Leslie Mongezi, David Ten Velthuis), and even Greg's brother Andy (Jean-Marc Barr).

While I enjoyed the premise of this story, the execution was somewhat tedious and moody.

Brenda Fricker has a pivotal role as Danny's boss' wife.

Directed by Gillies MacKinnon; based on a novel by Maeve Binchy.

Rated PG for thematic elements, language and some sensuality.

My personal rating: C

North Country (2006)

Righting Wrongs

Based on a true story, North Country tells the story of one formerly abused woman who has the courage to fight a large corporation and bring about the first class action suit for sexual harassment.

The setting is a mining town in northern Minnesota where women have been working as miners for a long time but the men perceive the woman as a threat to their jobs. The prevailing attitude is "women don't belong here" and the men take every opportunity to harass and embarass the women.

The women have silently endured the problem in an effort to just do their jobs and collect their pay which is much better than any other job they could get in that area. That is, until Josey (Charlize Theron) moves back to town and is determined to make a future for herself and her two children after she leaves an abusive relationship.

Josey is an embarassment to her father (Richard Jenkins) due to her having two illegimate children, her desire to work at the mine, and her outspokenness about the wrongs perpetrated against women at the minew where he also works. Sissy Spacek plays Josey's loving and encouraging mother.

But Josey is determined to stop the wrong and is aided by Glory (Frances McDormand), the only female union rep at the mine, and a local lawyer (Woody Harrelson) who is not only sympathetic to the women's plight but also views this as a precedent-setting case.

Directed by Niki Caro.

Rated R for sequences involving sexual harassment including violence and dialogue, and for language.

---

viewed Mar-2006