****

After Words

Writer and director Juan Feldman and Oscar Winning Actress Marcia Gay Harden collaborate in a simple but poignant, heartwarming story. Harden plays Jane, a depressed lost soul who is a Los Angeles librarian who has been missing the joy of life and now has lost even her job. She chooses to go where she has never gone before on perhaps her last trip and that is to explore the beauty of exotic Central America. This leads her to meet Juan, a Costa Rican tourist guide who desperately needs money to send his adorable English speaking daughter (Jenna Ortega) to private school and he is willing to provide extra good service to his clients in order to get the funds he needs. You probably can guess the rest of the story.

What is quite remarkable about this movie is how well done every aspect of it is handled. Marcia Gay Harden is superb in projecting the despair that Jane has and the gradual metamorphosis that she undergoes. Oscar Jaenada, as Juan, comes across as a very believable and sincere man despite his initial presentation as a gigolo.

Juan Feldman, despite a meager budget which he had to scrape up in order to make this film, has well utilized his multiple skills as well as bringing in a very talented production team. In a most subtle manner we see the gradual emerging chemistry between the two main characters which was not only reflected by the outstanding acting but also came across through the dialogue, positioning of the actors, gradual changes in the lighting, color, sound and musical background. This should evoke in the audience a subtle evolving emotional experience, which is evidence of a very well done successful movie. (2015)

****

Grandma

Paul Weitz, whose credits include American Pie, About a Boy, In Good Company, and Admission, has written and directed this movie which he put together with Lily Tomlin in mind. It is an independent low budget film but is high in quality with an edgy story and great acting. It all takes place in a 24-hour period and the film runs a crisp 80 minutes. It is about relationships, difficult decisions, love, and regrets, all set with a somewhat unusual cast of characters. Lily Tomlin is Elle, grandmother and a literature professor, who we meet just as she has broken up with her younger girlfriend Olivia (Judy Greer). She is then visited by her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner), who tells her that she is pregnant and needs money for an abortion which neither she nor grandma have the money.

The story unfolds as the two of them visit old friends of grandma in an attempt to get funds for the abortion. During the course of these visits, the viewer gets the life history of grandma and the trial of broken relationships that she has had which includes a long-term relationship with a now deceased Violet, a relationship that ended abruptly 40 years ago with Karl (Sam Elliott), and a more recent friendship with Deathy (Laverne Cox), a sweet tattoo artist. We also get some insights in to the contentious relationship with her nearly estranged daughter Judy (Marcia Gay Harden), mother of the granddaughter and a successful business executive who must have developed her tough exterior from her own mother, grandma. The storyline also takes us into the women’s health center or should we say abortion clinic, where we feel the subtle ambivalence that exist for women in this situation.

In certain respects, this movie is cutting edge as grandma’s sexual orientation is clearly gay from the beginning of the film. However, that has very little to do with the drama, personal conflicts, tragedies, and ambivalent relationships which the viewer experiences in this fascinating story. This is an unusual refreshing movie that should not be missed. (2015)

* * *
Rails & Ties – nf – You take two great actors and provide an unusual painful but simple story and the result is a touching but difficult movie to watch. A women suicides by planting her car on the tracks in front a speeding railroad train. Her 11-year-old son ( Miles Heizer) barely escapes from the car. The train engineer (Kevin Bacon) and his wife (Marcia Gay Harden) who just found out that she has metastatic cancer take in the young boy into their childless home. They both bond with him and for a moment in time, some good has come from all this tragedy. Not bad for the directing debut of Allison Eastwood who is the daughter of Clint. (2007)

* *
Whip It – nf – This is movie which may have appeal to the high school movie set , especially the girls. A 17 year old girl from a small town in Texas played radiantly by Ellen Page ( who was tremendous in Juno ) decides that she can’t live out the aspirations of her mother ( Marcia Gay Harden) and become a beauty queen so she escapes to Austin and joins an all girl roller derby team. The movie and all the characters are filled with clichés. Most of the girls on the team are tough on the outside but have a heart of gold. This includes one roller derby teammate played by Drew Barrymore who also makes her directorial debut with this movie. There is a boyfriend who has a band. She has a best girl friend with whom she has a temporary disagreement. Her Dad just cares about watching football on TV but ultimately comes through for her. It won’t be hard to predict what her mother finally does. Thirty years ago roller derby was popular on TV and I understand it is making somewhat of a comeback in middle America today. This movie will not propel it to center stage. It may be an inspiration of some young girls who can identify with the heroine. (2009)