Handsome Harry – Trailer

At 52, Harry Sweeney (Jamey Sheridan) lives a pretty monotonous but comfortable life. He’s the absentee father of a grown son from a failed marriage, runs a small business, and visits the local diner regularly to flirt with career waitress Muriel (Karen Young). His past begins to resurface when he gets a call from Tom Kelly (Steve Buscemi), an old buddy on his deathbed. Tom believes he needs forgiveness from a fellow crewman, David Kagan, from their days in the Navy. The secret of what happened unfolds as Harry visits other old mates on his reluctant search for David. As Harry is forced to confront the past he’s buried for so long, one wonders—is he searching for Tom’s redemption or his own?

Director Bette Gordon (also showing a restored version of her 1983 film Variety at the Festival this year) carefully maneuvers a script by Nicholas T. Proferes (editor/cinematographer of Elia Kazan’s The Visitors) by delicately unraveling what happened between the vets. Jamey Sheridan naturally conveys the complexity of Harry’s demeanor, both stoic and vulnerable. The rest of the cast—including Aidan Quinn, Campbell Scott, and John Savage—beautifully contributes to this quiet, poignant story of redemption, escaping the past, and confronting the present.

Leave a comment on this post below.

HOME

One Week – That bloke from Fringe and Dawson’s Creek is in it

When a young man is confronted with his mortality, he takes a cross-country road trip on a vintage motorcycle. One Week tells the story of Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson), in his mid-twenties, who flees from the confines of his life—an impending marriage, a job he’s not entirely happy with and a recent diagnosis—in order to attempt to live more fully. What starts off as an ill-defined venture soon morphs into a quest for the West Coast.

Director: Michael McGowan
Writer: Michael McGowan
Studio: Mongrel
Cast: Joshua Jackson, Liane Balaban, Campbell Scott

HOME – Discuss in the Forum

Phoebe in Wonderland – Trailer

Phoebe in Wonderland is the fantastical tale of Phoebe (Elle Fanning), a young girl who longs to be in the school production of Alice in Wonderland. After her peculiar drama teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) casts her, Phoebe struggles to control her behavior so her Principal (Campbell Scott) won’t kick her out. As Phoebe’s stress mounts, her behavior grows worse, creating intense pressure on her parents Hillary and Peter (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman). Hillary, who already feels a failure in both her personal and professional life, desperately tries to understand and help her daughter. But this connection proves elusive as Phoebe begins retreating to an imaginary fantasy world peopled by characters from Alice in Wonderland, a world which grows increasingly disturbing and treacherous. As Alice observes to the Caterpillar, “It is very confusing being so many different sizes in a day,” and in the end both Hillary and Phoebe (under Miss Dodger’s tutelage) must try to navigate the strange, painful, exhilarating transformation from chrysalis to butterfly

Discuss in the Forum