Family Drama – Zachary Mule

FROST

(CLEOPATRA EENTERTAINMENT/SNOW LEOPARD ENTERTAINMENT/SANDALED KID PRODUCTIONS/JCB PICTURES/MULTIVERSE CINEMA (80 minutes; Unrated); 2022)

There are many reasons to watch a movie: we want to enjoy a riveting tale, we want to laugh, we want to be in suspense or get scared, or we want to enjoy our favorite stars strutting their stuff and portraying compelling character. I don’t know anyone who would knowingly choose to watch a movie about someone SUFFERING. But that is what you’ll be experiencing for the 80 minutes that comprise FROST, a nonetheless fascinating and challenging little flick from director Brandon Slagle. Let me just say upfront that actress Devanny Pinn, who plays a pregnant young woman named Abby in this movie, turns in one of the most insanely stressed-out performances ever filmed, and she deserves some sort of special award for her work here. Pinn is confined inside a crashed vehicle for nearly this entire movie, seriously injured and about to give birth, trapped on a mountainside with an approaching snowstorm. It’s a thankless, horrendous situation and no matter WHAT else a person might think about this movie, you have a major actress giving her all here. It’s cumulatively more and more jaw-dropping as the movie progresses. The simple plot is that Abby is visiting her partially estranged father Grant (Vernon Wells) somewhere out west, and over dinner we learn that he drinks too much for Abby’s taste, can be rude, and doesn’t do much of anything to impress her. And yet, he loves her, and they agree to go on a father-daughter fishing trip despite the forecast of a winter storm. Naturally, an inattentive moment causes Grant to veer off the road and crash into a tree, with one limb going straight through the windshield and into Abby’s chest. Jagged pieces of glass are everywhere, and the car is perched on the edge of a dropoff. Grant is able to squirm out of his seat, but if Abby tries to do the same, the car will plunge off the edge and kill her. And she can barely move or maneuver at all. So the plan is, Grant will seek help (the pair have walkie-talkies) and return to save Abby and her soon-to-be newborn. But she’ll have to tough it out in the ruined automobile, and try to stay warm as best she can before the weather worsens. A grim setup, for sure. What follows is one incident after another of Abby talking to herself, talking to her unborn, utilizing whatever still works on the car to her advantage, and trying to find something to eat, which in one revolting scene, includes sampling her dad’s nightcrawlers. Pinn is absolutely believable here, playing the role of a desperate, trapped woman hanging onto shreds of hope and constantly trying to reach her dad to get “progress reports.” She tries to treat one of her own injuries, not a pleasant scene to watch, and there is a remarkable scene involving a wolf who discovers her and has a motive that she must do everything she can to foil. It’s all very, very unsettling, and yes, it will test the patience of many viewers. You are seeing a woman suffer here. NOT being tortured or stalked like in standard horror movies. Just enduring a hopeless situation. And enduring And enduring. And enduring more…

It’s worth mentioning this film in terms of “horror movies,” because it’s mostly a wilderness adventure movie overall. Not all that realistic at times (I doubt most women would’ve made it as long as Abby given these circumstances). However, in the last ten minutes of the film, it does indeed turn to horror. I’m not going to say how, as that would spoil the “fun” for those of you who plan to see this. But I was genuinely shocked by the concluding section, as I did NOT see these events coming and literally could not believe what the filmmaker decided to show us. There are undoubtedly some viewers who will tune this film out before the final outrage, and that’s to be expected. But I give this film credit for NOT following the formula of this kind of scenario, and for deciding to make this’un a meditation on pure desperation rather than a conventional “rescue” situation. Just be warned, it is GRIM on every level. What we’re allowed to see of the scenery is kind of beautiful, and occasionally (but not always) the music is effective. And you gotta give writers James Cullen Bressack and Robert Thompson (screenplay) credit for crafting a small, personal largely one-character film and making it brutally realistic down to minute details. But… this is a fairly trying viewing experience. I take away from it two main things: that Devanny Pinn is a supremely ambitious and brave actress, one to watch for sure. And that some filmmakers like to set up one set of expectations and then “stick it to you” in the end. That’s certainly what they do in FROST, and sick as it is, I kinda admire them for it.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

( …AND TO REVIVE A MAGICAL EVENING WITH MARY BADHAM AND MY MOM)

Kevin with actress Mary Badham (on his left) and his mother, Annabelle, circa January 2009 (family photo)

Actress Mary Badham. The legendary film TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. My late mother, Annabelle, who died in 2009. The prevalence of racism and bad behavior in America today. All of these things hit me in a whole new way this past week when I accidentally stumbled across the original recording of an in-person interview I did with Ms Badham back in 2009, a piece that is no longer available online (it originally appeared on the defunct PlaybackSTL site). I’m sharing most of the complete interview here, but more importantly, the context has changed considerably, rendering this trip into the past more than a little noteworthy. Yes, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is still one of my three or four all-time favorite movies, and yes, racism still exists… not just the straightforward kind that is depicted in the classic 1961 film, but a far more widespread and violent strain that makes the news somewhere almost daily. I can talk about either subject for hours. But this old interview captures transcendent moments from the last “evening out” that my mom and I enjoyed together, in January 2009. Just a few weeks after the occasion that led to this interview, a revival of TKAM at Washington University’s Edison Theatre, my mom suffered a terrible fall. She was seriously injured, and despite some promising efforts by a couple of doctors to get her to recover, it wasn’t meant to be. She slipped away in April 2009. Among many, many things that were noteworthy about my mom was her gift for cheerful understatement, and occasionally, eyebrow-raising surprise. A bombshell she dropped on her four kids one day was that she had gotten to hang out with author Harper Lee one day and see a screening of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD with her the year it opened, thanks to a mutual friend named Mae McCleavey. I never sat down and interviewed Mom herself, despite knowing I probably SHOULD on many an occasion. If I told most people that the reclusive author watched the movie made of her masterpiece with my own mother, I wouldn’t blame them for being skeptical. How could such a thing happen? But… this interview features a golden moment, Mom actually telling Mary Badham, the gifted actress who played Scout in the movie, that yes, she sat in a theatre with Harper Lee. Hearing her speak after all these years is more than a little emotional for me, as is virtually everything Mary had to say about the film. So yes, this one is “from the vaults” all right, but in light of the context the present day provides, it might as well be new. I’m grateful I came across this, because the disc on which it appears was not labeled accurately.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (GREGORY PECK) (publicity still)

I don’t have to repeat the praise here that I bestowed on the Gregory Peck masterpiece in my original article. TKAM is a beloved film all over the world, one of Hollywood’s most successful film adaptations ever, not to mention the historical impact of Harper Lee’s original novel (which STILL finds crackpot right-wingers trying to ban it even today cause of all that “critical race theory” stuff. Don’t get me started). But what I am happy to share is that the movie was a singularly worthy entry in the family-viewing contest I experienced growing up and beyond. Very, very few movies could meet the approval of every single member of my family – varied bunch that we were – when we would get together to watch something. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD stood almost alone in that regard. Both the snobbiest among us and the most open-minded among us were willing to watch the exploits of Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem (and that Boo Radley guy) for yet another time. And to a person, we were all emotional afterward… again. “What a great movie!” someone would remark. How amazing a thing, that this remark could have come from any of the six of us. That, my friends, is unprecedented. When I met the adult Mary Badham, the lady who gave what is easily one of the best performances by a child actress in history (I told her as much, which was a thrill for me), I had a chance to tell her about our family viewings of the film, how my sister would sometimes say “Hey, Boo!” when she called me up, how one of us might query the other, “What in the Sam Hill are ya DOING?,” gleefully reciting another of Scout’s great lines from the film, and how I’d written to Gregory Peck once when he was still alive, talking about my love for the film. He sent me an autographed photo, bless his heart. And upon meeting Mary Badham, I got HER autograph on a famous pose of her and Peck, meaning that I’ve got a treasured scrawl from the two main stars of a genuine movie masterpiece. Yes, I’m a fanboy for stuff like this. Can’t help it. Mary was tickled by my enthusiasm, but she’s heard these things so many, many times… as the interview makes clear. And sitting nearby, respectfully not interrupting until the very end, was my mother. The whole thing is just unbelievable to me, honestly. My last “night out” with Mom, spent in the company of “Scout”! Not bad, eh? So here’s that interview from January 2009…

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (MARY BADHAM, GREGORY PECK) (publicity still)

THE MULE: What stands out the most from your time filming the movie?

MARY: Mostly just having fun. We had a ball! We really did. We played a lot, we laughed a lot… it was playtime! It wasn’t like work. Our wonderful director, Bob Mulligan, he made it so easy. He really did. All these guys had small children they were dealing with at home at that period in time. So they knew how to communicate with children. We had so much fun!

THE MULE: They had a certain way of talking to you, then?

MARY: Yeah, very easy. Real down to earth. They didn’t talk down to us. Bob Mulligan, one of the things that made him such a fabulous director… he would get down to our level, he would kneel, literally, just squat down and talk to us face to face like two adults talking. I never remember him talking down to us. It was always like, “Okay, this is the deal, this is what we’re gonna do.” And that’s what we did! It was great fun.

THE MULE: I guess you had to do multiple takes of scenes?

MARY: Oh yeah. Whenever you’re shooting a film, you wanna get different angles that you can cut together. But I had a particular problem. I not only knew MY lines, I knew everybody else’s! If I thought someone was struggling, I would sit there and mouth the lines! Bob would yell “Cut! Now, dear… this is film! We can see your mouth moving. Please don’t do that!” (Mary chuckled at this point in the interview) Poor Phillip (Alford, who plays Gem). It made him crazy! I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me for that!

THE MULE: You guys keep in touch?

MARY: Oh yeah! I’m probably closer to him than I am to my own brothers. He’s so funny! Wish he could be here tonight, but he’s on another job.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (MARY BADHAM, GREGORY PECK, PHILLIP ALFORD) (publicity still)

THE MULE: And you’ve talked elsewhere about how much you enjoyed working with Gregory Peck. Not a bad gig for a youngster!

MARY: It was wonderful. We had a fabulous relationship that lasted right up until before his death. I was up to the house just a few weeks before. His whole family has been just so lovely through the years. They’ve been a great source of comfort for me. I lost my parents very early. My mom died three weeks after I graduated from high school, and my dad died, like, two years after I got married, and I got married when I was 21. So to have that kind of a role model was wonderful. He really imprinted on me some basic things, of getting a good education, of working hard, coming to work prepared or doing your job well.

THE MULE: You absorbed a lot from him…

MARY: I mean, it was also all the years in between! It was nothing for me to pick up the phone and he’d say, ‘Hi kiddo, whatcha doing?’ When you’re living in a trailer in Loachapoka, Alabama, in the middle of a field, getting blown away by tornadoes, it’s kind of a comforting thing to have Gregory Peck call you on the phone and go, ‘How ya doing, kiddo?’ He was just so awesome.

THE MULE: His influence on the law profession is legendary, also; much has been written about that. Everyone knows about Atticus Finch.

MARY: Absolutely. When we were on the road in his one-man show, I could not tell you the number of people in the audience that said either they became a lawyer or their daughter, or their son or some member of their family became a lawyer because of his role. And they still use it in law schools. They teach TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Which I think is wonderful!

THE MULE: The legacy of the film is unprecedented, honestly. Few works of art have had such a widespread influence. What has that been like for you through the years?

MARY: It’s pretty amazing. I tell people constantly, this is not just a black and white 1930s issue. This book touches on family issues, social issues, women’s issues, racial issues. The whole nine yards. And everything that’s important about the way we need to live our lives, and the way we need to think about our culture and our country, it’s all there. That’s what makes it important. Let’s face it, bigotry and racism and hatred and ignorance haven’t gone anywhere. They’ve just changed their clothes, that’s all. So it’s all things that we need to pay attention to. We need to work toward making ourselves better. Getting our education system fixed. Getting our families fixed FIRST, education second. We’ve really got to get control of all those things.

THE MULE: It’s a miracle how this film seems to appeal to just about everyone… my family watched it repeatedly through the years. We all loved it!

MARY: It’s wonderful. There’s families that sit and watch this film every year. It’s an annual event that they do, like, before Christmas or during fall. Fall seems to be the choice of times when most people do it. But there are whole families that just gather around and watch it.

THE MULE: There are so many scenes imprinted on my psyche. When Scout first sees Boo Radley, and she wrinkles up her face and takes time to get out the words “Hey, Boo,” I gotta tell you, that scene brought tears to my eyes more than once. I kinda feel what you did there, it’s BEYOND acting. It’s like UBER-ACTING or something. Just transcendent.

MARY: (Mary smiles and nods at this point in our interview) The one that gets me is in the courtroom, when they say, “Jean-Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing!”

THE MULE: Oh golly, my friend Kathy has mentioned that same scene to me before, she loves it also! How did you get this part in the first place?

MARY: My mom was an actress, she was with the local town theatre. And she took me in to try out. I didn’t know anything, I was just this dumb little kid from Alabama.

THE MULE: (I express amazement that Mary had no previous acting experience. After all, she became the youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in the film)

MARY: You have to understand… the script and the life portrayed; everything was so close to my real life.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (GREGORY PECK, BROCK PETERS) (publicity still)

It was at this point in the interview that a couple of reps came along to alert Mary it was time for her next interview. Graciously, however, she chatted with my mother for a few more moments. Mom told her it was all true how much my family loved the movie, and how we quoted the dialogue often. I asked if she had mentioned to Mary yet about seeing the film with the author. She grinned broadly and pointed to three imaginary seats.

“I sat RIGHT here with the teacher. And Harper. And ME!”

“That’s just amazing!” Mary whispered.

ANNABELLE AND KEVIN RENICK (family photo)

Mom and I then posed for two memorable photos with Ms Badham and hugged her, before reluctantly but giddily moving on. I was emotionally moved to the point of almost being speechless. There weren’t any adequate words to sum up what I was experiencing. And now, 13 years later, there still aren’t. To paraphrase a line from the classic film itself: “I was to think of these things many times… of Mary Badham, of my enthusiastic mother, of the impact of a beautiful movie on both the world and my own heart, and how I got to sit face to face with ‘Scout,’ and tell her how grateful I was for what she’d given us.”

MARY BADHAM, currently on tour with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD as Mrs Henry Dubose (left photo courtesy: DKC/O&M, right photo credit: JULIETA CERVANTES)

UPDATE: Mary Badham can currently be seen as Mrs Dubose in a touring production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD that also features Richard Thomas as Atticus and Melanie Moore as Scout. The production was originally supposed to hit Broadway for a spell, but one of the producers decided that would not be financially feasible. TKAM fans will have plenty of other chances to enjoy the fabled story as it comes to cities throughout the country up through June 2023. Aaron Sorkin adapted this production from Harper Lee’s novel, with Jeff Daniels earning widespread acclaim for his performance as Atticus in the initial run on Broadway. You can read more about the touring show at: tokillamockingbirdbroadway.com/tour/.

Actor/Creator Features/Interviews BROKEN LEGS AND FRAGILE EGOS HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies Stage Productions – Drama | Kevin Renick | August 21, 2022 | Aaron Sorkin Bob Mulligan Classic Movie Courtroom Drama Drama Family Drama Gregory Peck Harper Lee Mary Badham Melanie Moore Movie Adaptation Phillip Alford PlaybackSTL Richard Thomas Stage Adaptation TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Touring Stage Production

SEE YOU IN VALHALLA

(ARC ENTERTAINMENT/TARNOL GROUP PICTURES (82 minutes; Rated R); 2015)

Taking dysfunction to an entirely new level, SEE YOU IN VALHALLA follows the Burwood family as they gather after several years apart to mourn their brother, a troubled young man who found peace living in a Viking colony. After Maxwell (played in pivotal flashbacks by Jake McDorman, whose most high profile role to date has been in AMERICAN SNIPER) – who had adopted the Viking name Magnus – and his girlfriend left the colony, she drifted back into drugs, dying of an overdose and sending the distraught young man spiraling out of control; taking justice into his own hands, Magnus attacked the drug dealer and his associates with a broadsword, effectively committing suicide by proxy.

SEE YOU IN VALHALLA (Jake McDorman) (publicity still)

The youngest Burwood, Johana, learns of her brother’s death from a television news report. As Johana (played by MODERN FAMILY’s Sarah Hyland, who is also a co-producer on the project) sits stunned, there’s a knock at her door; it’s Peter, her scheduled date. Telling Peter (Alex Frost) that she forgot about their plans, she apologizes and tells him about her brother. What Johana intended to be a casual get-together meant something far different for the smitten Peter, who immediately volunteers to accompany her back home. With Peter in tow, Johana heads for home, where she is greeted by her father, Woody (Conor O’Farrell), a man who had always been a bit distant toward his children and further distanced himself as he enveloped himself in grief after the death of his wife; with Woody is his live-in nurse (and former grocery delivery person), Faye (Emma Bell), a spirit so free that she is continually mere nanoseconds away from floating away. Already at the home is Jo’s older brother, Barry (played by Bret Harrison, who has starred in two of my favorite TV series of the past fifteen years, the deeply twisted GROUNDED FOR LIFE and the wildly underrated REAPER) and his life partner, Makewi (a more-than-a-little off-center performance from Steve Howey, who has an impressive resume, including a recurring role in SONS OF ANARCHY, but will probably forever be known for his role of Reba McEntire’s screwball son-in-law, Van on REBA).

SEE YOU IN VALHALLA (Bret Harrison, Steve Howey, Michael Weston, Sarah Hyland, Alex Frost) (publicity still)

The final piece of the Burwood family mosaic is oldest brother Don (Michael Weston), a holier-than-thou perfectionist who blames Woody for all of his (well-hidden) problems (actually, he blames his father for the extinction of the dinosaurs and every other ill that has beset this planet since the dawn of time). With the arrival of Don and his Nazi-in-training teenage daughter, Ashley (snarkily portrayed by Odeya Rush), the sniping, cheap shots and fist-throwing begins. Throughout it all, Jo manages to stay fairly well out of the line of fire… until the entire family convenes for supper, where Ashley admits her superiority over all others by announcing her plans to remain a virgin until marriage and qualifies that decision by pointing out that “at least I won’t have to get an abortion,” a subject that is a widespread rumor about Jo amongst the general populace but never discussed in the Burwood home. Johana, of course, takes umbrage to the condescending remark, which suddenly turns into a free-for-all yelling and shoving match between Woody and Don. Tragedy, quite naturally, ensues… something so startling that it brings the three quarreling siblings together and sees Pete and, especially, the zen philosophy of Makewi showing their true worth to this insane family to whom they have become, at the very least, satellites caught in their gravitational pull. The ending, a hair-brained scheme concocted by the two that brings the whole family together, is truly touching.

SEE YOU IN VALHALLA (Steve Howey, Sarah Hyland) (publicity still)

SEE YOU IN VALHALLA is a brutal look at familial in-fighting that really isn’t intended for the young’uns (the R rating is for some very coarse language more than anything else) and, though it borders on the realm of “chick flick,” there’s enough testosterone and subversive comedy (Makewi and Pete’s first encounter; Don and Barry’s argument about the latter allowing Ashley to indulge in an alcoholic beverage) to make it a great late-night date movie (several linear yards of very beautiful people certainly doesn’t hurt, either). Don’t get me wrong, it is far from perfect; there are more than enough cringe-worthy moments to fill a couple more movies but, I have come to the conclusion that great acting can overcome a marginal script and, conversely, no matter how great the script is, marginal acting will absolutely ruin it. In this case, the cast is first-rate (Howey, in particular, is a stand-out), as they manage to rise above some of the more questionable sequences to deliver an entertaining piece of family drama. Even a couple of rather convoluted plot devices involving Johana’s former boyfriend and the abortion rumor are well-acted, if not well-written. There are certainly worse ways to spend an hour-and-a-half than watching SEE YOU IN VALHALLA.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Darren Tracy | May 28, 2015 | Alex Frost Bret Harrison Conor O'Farrell Dark Comedy Digital Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Emma Bell Family Drama Jake McDorman Michael Weston Movies Odeya Rush Rated R Sarah Hyland Steve Howey

AUTUMN BLOOD

(DVD and Digital; ARC ENTERTAINMENT/DREAMRUNNER PICTURES/MOUNTAIN FILMS (99 minutes/Rated R); 2014)

AUTUMN BLOOD is a very quiet, almost pastoral movie, filled with moments of unbelievable brutality, violence and pain. Beautifully filmed in the mountains around Tirol, Austria, the scenery is breathtaking and there is a sense that we may be watching a story set in the untamed wild west of the United States; the only things visible to place the movie in modern times are the vehicles, farm machinery and weaponry. The opening sequence of the film sets the stage as, six years earlier, a farming family’s lives are shattered when the father is killed by the mayor of the nearby village. The inference from what happens prior is that the mayor either raped the mother or they were having an affair. At any rate, the father is dead, leaving the mother to care for her two young children.

AUTUMN BLOOD (Sophie Lowe, Maximilian Harnisch) (publicity still)

The movie shifts to the mother and her now sixteen year old daughter (played with an innocence that seems almost too real to be acting, by Sophie Lowe, an ethereal, waifish beauty who may be best known for her role as Alice in the television series, ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND) and ten year old son (Maximilian Harnisch), who hasn’t spoken a word since witnessing his father’s death. There’s a gentleness and a sense of idyllic contentment, or maybe it’s resignation to their lots in life… whatever it is, the mother does her best to give the children a good life.

AUTUMN BLOOD (Gustaf Skarsgard, Sophie Lowe) (publicity still)

The girl’s innocence is probably best displayed as she swims/bathes in a secluded pond; she lays, drying on the rocks, completely at one with her surroundings. As she lay there one morning, dreaming, a hunter (the mayor’s son, played by Samuel Vauramo) breaks her reverie. Totally unaffected and unashamed, she doesn’t try to cover herself. It isn’t until the man grabs her and bends in to kiss her that she begins to understand his intentions and tries to fight him off. Beaten and bloody, the girl eventually makes her way home. She is met by her brother who helps her into their house, where more heartache awaits. As the boy was doing chores around the farm and while the girl was being brutalized, their mother had finally succumbed to the loneliness (or guilt, as there are several clues that she was, in fact, somehow involved with the mayor), ending her own life (at least, that’s how I read the scene). As the girl cleanses her wounds and tries to wash away the rape, she makes the decision to quietly bury their mother and keep her death a secret so that she and her brother wouldn’t be taken from their home and, possibly, separated.

AUTUMN BLOOD (Peter Stormare, Sophie Lowe) (publicity still)

On a trip into town, the girl, still showing signs of the beating she took, is waited on by a caring banker who grows suspicious and calls a social worker to check on the family situation. The girl also encounters the mayor (a steely-eyed Peter Stormare) in the local church, as well as being intimidated by the town butcher (played with a sense of monstrous depravity by Gustaf Skarsgard), the hunter and another friend. Later that night, the three men pay the children a visit, threatening to kill the boy and, once again, forcing themselves upon the girl. The mayor suspects his son and the others are, at the very least, up to no good and, possibly, in far more trouble than he has the power to get them out of.

AUTUMN BLOOD (Samuel Vauramo, Peter Stormare) (publicity still)

Now knowing of the mayor’s suspicions, the three decide to kill the only witnesses to their crimes. As the girl and her brother try to allude their would-be executioners, the film takes on a disturbing DELIVERENCE quality. Amidst the scenic backdrop of the Austrian countryside, the three stalk the siblings for the final third of the movie. As is always the case in such chase scenes, the villains are dispatched, one in a fairly standard fashion, the other two in less obvious ways. The chase sequence, which encompasses two days, is chilling, thrilling and nicely staged. I do, however, question the need for the girl to doff her clothing once she finds a suitable hiding place for the night; it just seems incongruous and more than a bit exploitive. If you’re paying close attention all the way through AUTUMN BLOOD, the final scene offers a little hint as to the relationship between the mother and the mayor and… I ain’t sayin’ no more. You’re going to have to connect the dots yourself.

AUTUMN BLOOD (Tim Morten Uhlenbrock, Gustaf Skarsgard, Samuel Vauramo) (publicity still)

As mentioned, the movie has some nudity, violence and two brutal rape scenes, so it has an R rating, though it seems that most teens (say, 12 and over) wouldn’t be too shocked or permanently damaged if they watched it, depending on their sensitivity to such things. I originally felt that the rapes would be dealbreakers for a majority of viewers but, the overall quality of the story eventually won me over. By the way, about those rape and nude scenes… Sophie Lowe was 21 years old when the film began shooting so, everything was above board and legal.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Darren Tracy | October 22, 2014 | Action Movie Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Family Drama Gustaf Skarsgard Maximilian Harnisch Movies Peter Stormare Psychological Thriller Rated R Samuel Vauramo Sophie Lowe Tirol Austria

LOUDER THAN WORDS

(ARC ENTERTAINMENT/IDENTITY FILMS (93 minutes, Rated PG-13); 2014)

For me, ambivalence is not an option for a film like LOUDER THAN WORDS; either I like such fare very much or hate it vehemently. I knew that the script was based on a true story which, depending on the screenwriter, the director, the principal stars and – yes – the subject matter, could signal disaster or thought-provoking, uplifting confirmations about life, family and the inherent good within each of us. The first few minutes of LOUDER THAN WORDS had me leaning toward disaster… to the point that I nearly hit the “stop” button on the remote. But, I hung in and, thankfully, was rewarded with story about life and death and family dynamics that seem, in some part, to reflect each of us.

LOUDER THAN WORDS (David Duchovny and Hope Davis) (publicity still)

So, is LOUDER… perfect? No, the movie definitely has problems, which I’ll address shortly. First, though, here’s the basic gist of the story (no spoilers here, as the story has been well documented): John and Brenda Fareri (played by David Duchovny and Hope Davis) are a well-to-do couple devastated after the loss of their 13 year old daughter, Maria (Olivia Steele-Falconer), to a rare strain of rabies. Maria, a vibrant and loving child, was the glue that held the Ferari family unit together. John – always the thoughtful, quiet one – seems to become more insular and withdrawn, alienating Brenda and their other children (from Brenda’s previous marriage), triplets Stephanie, Michael and Julie (Adelaide Kane, Ben Rosenfield and Morgan Griffin), each grieving in their own fashion and wondering why the man they call Father has abandoned them. At one point, one of the girls tells her Mother that she fels like things are back to the way they were before John became a part of their family: Like they didn’t have a Father. John gains focus when he decides to build a new children’s hospital to better serve the needs of the whole family and to make the kids feel – if not at home – a little more comfortable about their hospital stay. Of course, everybody thinks that John has driven off the rails somewhere, including city leaders, rich friends and the consultant (Bruce Komiske, played by Timothy Hutton) he hires to help bring his dream to fruition. An eventual kitchen showdown between Brenda and John allows both to vent and gain a modicum of understanding of the pain the other is feeling. From there, it isn’t a great stretch to bring Brenda and the three kids on board and start the ball (and donations) rolling. The previous despair is replaced by a sense of hope and a desire to help others in the Fareri’s situation.

LOUDER THAN WORDS (Olivia Steele-Falconer) (publicity still)

The film is narrated by Maria, who is initially seen riding her bicycle on a beautiful fall day (or, maybe, she’s in Heaven). I originally found this premise a bit dubious, to say the least but, as the story progresses, it seems somehow natural that she would be the one to tell this story. LOUDER THAN WORDS encompasses approximately seven years, boiled down into a compact 90-minute package; and, therein, lies the bulk of my problems with the movie. Sometimes it just seems too much like watching MTV on speed for its own good. The film bounces back and forth between past and present, generally via family remembrances, with too many quick cuts and edits and little “black-out” vignettes meant to move the story forward as quickly as possible. Producer Anthony Mastromauro says, in the “behind the scenes” bonus feature, “I think any time you’re telling a story that spans a number of years, the non-linear structure can work in your favor.” Or not, sir. While I did find the movie engaging and the story a great affirmation of life, I would very much have preferred a more traditional, linear telling (which the film does revert to eventually) and, maybe, about another 30-minutes to flesh out a few of those frustrating vignettes.

LOUDER THAN WORDS (Timothy Hutton, Hope Davis and David Duchovny) (publicity still)

Some of John’s flashback sequences are akin to Agent Mulder’s search for his sister (and the truth, which is out there… or so we’re told) in THE X FILES. And, now that I think about it, the hospital where Maria dies kinda looks like one of those draped-in-shadows secret government facilities that Scully and Mulder would occasionally find themselves searching for that truth. As is often the case with a death in the family (particularly a young child), the survivors each handle the loss in their own way. The Fareri family’s coping mechanisms may seem a bit over the top, but… try to put yourself in their shoes (heck, you may have been in those shoes yourself once). I haven’t lost a child, but I watched my Mother go through it twice; it’s a pain that never goes away. So, anyway… the kids are suitably sullen; Brenda is devastated, confused and angry… in that order; John is, first, zombie-like, then, inconsolable and, finally, driven. With Bruce Komiske on board, John and he begin to knock on the doors of the wealthy and the powerful. At one point, a consultant mentions that the best way to build a new hospital is by putting a donor’s name on the building; John steadfastly declares that the hospital will bear his daughter’s name. That is the attitude that has his family and friends, at first, questioning his sanity and, later, joining him in the fight to give these children and their families a state-of-the-art facility, as well as a sense of hope.

LOUDER THAN WORDS (Ben Rosenfield, Hope Davis, David Duchovny, Morgan Griffin and Adelaide Kane) (publicity still)

Duchovny’s performance is understated, sometimes to the point that he appears to be mumbling his lines; he very rarely raises his voice, but when he does, it’s with authority and passion. The sincerity in the faces and eyes of Duchovny, Davis and Hutton are real. In the “behind the scenes” documentary, they each declare how much they believed in this story and how much they believed that it was one that should be told… standard quotes for any actor about any of their projects. This time, though, that same sincerity is in their eyes. They aren’t just giving lip service, they really mean it. Rosenfield, Kane and Griffin play the lost and hurting triplets as if they’re walking through a very bad dream; and, that’s exactly what it feels like, especially when you feel like you’ve lost your parents, too. Olivia Steele-Falconer, at times, seems to be in over her head and overreaching to compensate but, when it’s all said and done, she delivers a moving performance. The Fareri family were all involved in the production of LOUDER THAN WORDS and, I couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been, particularly when they would see this little girl playing their daughter and the uncanny resemblance to Maria.

LOUDER THAN WORDS (The Maria Fareri Children's Hospital; Maria in inset) (uncredited photos) — LOUDER THAN WORDS (The Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital; Maria in inset) (uncredited photos)

So, I told you that it wasn’t perfect and I stated my reasons for that assessment. If you don’t feel the same way I do about the editing style and non-linear storytelling, then by all means, you should check out LOUDER THAN WORDS. It truly is a story that had to be told.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies Streaming Video | Darren Tracy | September 11, 2014 | Adelaide Kane Anthony Mastromauro Based On a True Story Ben Rosenfield Brenda Fareri Bruce Komiske David Duchovny Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Family Drama Hope Davis John Fareri LOUDER THAN WORDS Maria Fareri Maria Fareri Children's Hospital Morgan Griffin Movie Trailer Movies Olivia Steele-Falconer Streaming Video Timothy Hutton

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

(DVD and Video-On-Demand; WATERCOLOR ENTERTAINMENT/ARC ENTERTAINMENT (116 minutes/Rated PG-13); 2014)

A gentle, unassuming movie, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (production title: WATERCOLOR POSTCARDS) reminds me of those indie movies from the ’70s (THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRIZZLY ADAMS or any of those back-to-nature things) or one of those Christian movies that churches used to show to kids on a fairly regular basis where the quiet guy with the long hair and beard turned out to be Jesus. And, like most of those movies, one of the lead actors actually wrote the script, as well. Though there’s a horse present and the movie does have some definite spiritual overtones, wolves, bears and coyotes are all no-shows; likewise, the Savior is absent… at least in a physical manifestation.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (Bailee Madison and Conrad Goode) (publicity still)

Alright… before this thing gets out of hand and even sillier, let’s just get back to HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS. This is a story about family. Specifically, it shows that family isn’t necessarily confined to a shared DNA. The story revolves around 10-year old Cotton (played by Bailee Madison, who played Selena Gomez’ younger brother for awhile in the Disney Channel series, THE WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE), who is the adopted daughter of a dying Texas town. Everyone watches out for Cotton just as she watches over her alcoholic mother (an all but unrecognizable Joan Van Ark, in a small but memorable role). Cotton is a dreamer; early in the story, she tells friend, neighbor and protector Butch (scriptwriter, producer and former New York Giants/Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman, Conrad Goode) that her Momma was going to Heaven and that everything was going to be okay because, “I saw it in my dreams last night.” Indeed, that night her mother died.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (Laura Bell Bundy, Bailee Madison and Conrad Goode) (publicity still)

The county sheriff is on hand, performing his sworn duty by collecting Cotton and taking her to be made a ward of the state. As he and Butch are debating the finer points of Texas law that say the best interest of the child must come first, Cotton’s older sister, Sunny (Laura Bell Bundy), a failed actress now living in Los Angeles, shows up to make peace and say goodbye to her mother. It seems that the hand-painted (by Butch) postcards that Cotton has been sending every day for several weeks had, indeed, reached her (physically, if not emotionally). Sunny discovers that she’s too late to say goodbye and the sheriff tells her that the girls’ mother had named Sunny guardian to Cotton: “You get Cotton; Cotton gets the house.” Sunny reluctantly agrees to accept guardianship of Cotton and, overwhelmed, takes to the bathroom and the bottle of pills in her bag. It would seem that whatever misery Sunny tried to run from had followed her to LA.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (Conrad Goode, Laura Bell Bundy andBailee Madison) (publicity still)

As Sunny begins to settle in, her past, in the form of ex-boyfriend Jackson (Rhett Giles) comes calling, every bit as mean-spirited and belligerent as she had remembered. It seems that Jackson doesn’t mind inflicting a little bit of pain on the women he loves: He berates and demeans his current girlfriend, apparently, just for being there. As the story unfolds, we discover that Sunny’s problem with pills stems from a drunk-driving incident on a date with Jackson; he was driving, she injured her back and, as he so eloquently states, got “a cheap abortion.” Jackson and his father (a dastardly turn by Steve Eastin) are two of a kind: Jackson bullies and berates to get his way; his father, an unscrupulous bank owner, uses the law to get his way. Jackson manages a car dealership and hires Sunny to a janitorial position to reassert his dominance over her; Mister Morgan is foreclosing on a bar owned by the kindhearted Ledball (Jonathan Banks), a childhood friend of the girls’ mother, as well as making the sheriff order Butch to close down the roadside stand where he sells his artwork.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (Bailee Madison, Conrad Goode and Laura Bell Bundy) (publicity still)

Sunny, still planning to exit as quickly as possible, finds that she is beginning to care deeply for the little sister that she barely knows. She also finds herself starting to care about the soft-spoken, postcard painting, songwriting ex-football player next door. After Cotton hears Sunny sing, she has another dream that will save them, Butch, Ledball’s bar and the entire town of Bent Arrow. She then puts into motion a plan to get Sunny to sing and Butch to accompany her on guitar at a Fourth of July picnic, so Ledball will hire them to play at his bar. The plan is ultimately successful and a date is set for the duo to perform. A near tragedy cements the pair’s love for each other and they begin in earnest to prepare for their debut. As Cotton, Sunny and Butch are just beginning to find the happiness that has eluded them for so long, tragedy strikes again.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS (Laura Bell Bundy and Conrad Goode) (publicity still)

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS is a family movie, but it isn’t a happy kiddie sort of affair; it’s rough around the edges, with some course language, a lot of drinking, some drug use and plenty of sexual situations. Those rough edges will keep the older kids and the adults in the family interested in the story and these very human characters; the gentle family scenes will keep the little ones involved. It is, ultimately, a story about the hope for something better, the triumph of family and unconditional love that isn’t limited to the bits of biological make-up that determines who your relatives are. The final half of this film is as gut-wrenchingly emotional as any family oriented movie since, maybe, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA. I would strongly advise that you don’t let the kids watch this one alone; pop some corn and curl up with them on the couch, at least for the first time through.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Darren Tracy | August 19, 2014 | Bailee Madison Conrad Goode DVD/Blu-Ray Family Drama HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS Joan Van Ark Jonathan Banks Laura Bell Bundy Movies Rhett Giles Video-On-Demand

SAVING GRACE B JONES

(NEW FILMS INTERNATIONAL/ARC ENTERTAINMENT (115 minutes/Rated R), 2014; Original Theatrical Release, 2011)

The instant I saw the title, I knew that SAVING GRACE B JONES was going to tug at the heart strings. It does. The first thing that usually comes to a guy’s mind when he sees those words is: “Chick Flick.” However, I gotta tell you, that definitely is not the case with this movie. Actress Connie Stevens (HAWAIIAN EYE and a butt-load of TV and movie appearances) acts as director, executive producer, co-writer and narrator on what turns out to be a thrilling – and, yes, heartbreaking – tale of a perfect Central Missouri family driven to the brink of desperation by a confluence of events that they have no control over. Without giving away too much, here’s the plot of the “inspired by a true story” film:

SAVING GRACE B JONES: Tatum O'Neal (publicity still) — SAVING GRACE B JONES: Tatum O’Neal (publicity still)

Set in 1951, Rylee Fansler portrays 10 year old Carrie (Stevens narrates as the adult Carrie). Already traumatized by the death of her mother, she becomes even more withdrawn and noncommunicable after witnessing a brutal stabbing. Her father makes the decision to send her to a small rural town called Boonville to spend the summer with an old Army buddy and his family. As Carrie settles in with Landy and Bea Bretthorst (Michael Biehn and Penelope Ann Miller) and their free-spirited daughter, Lucy (Evie Louise Thompson), she seems to be putting the gruesome memory behind her. She and Lucy even tag along when Landy travels to Oklahoma to bring his sister, Grace (Tatum O’Neal), home to live with the family. Grace had suffered horrible injuries when she was hit by a truck on her wedding day in 1935. The grueling recovery process drove Grace over the edge and she had spent the past sixteen years in a mental institution or, as they were commonly called then, an insane asylum. An underlying concern, hinted at throughout the movie, is a seemingly Biblical rain that constantly threatens the town, close to the Missouri River.

There are also hints of the abuse that Grace has had to withstand as a patient in the institution… all in the name of healing. Piper Laurie appears, in a delightfully wicked turn, as the asylum’s director, Marta Shrank. She is of the opinion that anyone ever admitted to such a place can never be released, as they are a threat to themselves and those around them (a sentiment, by the way, shared by most of Boonville, including the pious Reverend Potter): “… the best doctors and judges we have said that people who come here will never be right again. Maybe the doctors are smarter than you and me.” She isn’t very fond of her charges or of the two children that have accompanied Landy Bretthorst to bring Grace home and, with one of the best lines in the movie, she declares: “Tommy, it’s been so many years since I’ve seen children. They’re almost like little people, aren’t they?”

SAVING GRACE B JONES: Evie Louise Thompson and Rylee Fanser (publicity still) — SAVING GRACE B JONES: Evie Louise Thompson and Rylee Fansler (publicity still)

Grace’s homecoming isn’t the smooth transition that Landy envisioned. Things are complicated by the fact that her groom lives across the street from the Bretthorsts with his pregnant wife. The rains continue to fall intermittently adding to the feeling of isolation, as Landy is constantly called away to help with sandbagging at outlying areas. However, both Lucy and Carrie have found a kindred spirit, as they grow close to the troubled woman. In one particularly poignant scene, Grace and Lucy are sitting on the roof of their porch (apparently, a sanctuary for both). Grace opens up a bit about her life, saying, “I wonder if anyone will ever know why I existed? I am crazy, you know.” She tells her niece about some of the things she did in her youth, concluding with the insightful line, “It’s funny… the hard thing about being crazy is, you don’t get to do crazy things anymore.” This tender moment, of a completely lucid Grace interacting with one of the few people in her life that doesn’t judge her, is – literally – the calm before the storm. She’s still fighting her demons but, the one person who may be able to help her is too busy to see how much she needs him. Everything comes crashing down for Grace and the family after a tragic accident that…

SAVING GRACE B JONES: Connie Stevens, Evie Louise Thompson, Rylee Fansler and Tatum O'Neal (publicity photo) — SAVING GRACE B JONES: Connie Stevens, Evie Louise Thompson, Rylee Fansler and Tatum O’Neal (publicity photo)

But, that would be telling! From this point forward, the narrative takes on a considerably darker tone. Relating the events of the last half of the film would ruin an excellent movie if you haven’t seen it. So, just let me add these few thoughts: The acting throughout is top notch and – I could make some crack about her family and upbringing here – Tatum O’Neal displays, for the first time in a long while, the skills that made her the youngest person to ever win an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress for 1973’s PAPER MOON). Penelope Ann Miller, as the harried sister-in-law, also delivers a solid, low-key (for the most part) performance. SAVING GRACE B JONES skillfully addresses the stigma that the mentally ill continue to face today, with a forthright depiction of the patient, as well as the problems and decisions faced by the family that loves them, while still managing to incorporate an exciting secondary story. Guys, don’t be afraid of this flick; it will actually hold your attention to the end. You may want to have a box of tissues handy, though.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies Streaming Video | Darren Tracy | May 28, 2014 | Boonville Missouri Connie Stevens Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Evie Louise Thompson Family Drama Michael Biehn Movie Trailer Movies Penelope Ann Miller Piper Laurie Rylee Fansler Streaming Video Tatum O'Neal Thriller

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