What better way to start 2017 than with a 2016 film that I never heard of until recently. That’s the thing about limited releases I guess but I’m glad I got it now at least.
Synopsis: A young woman struggles to move on with her life after the death of her husband, an acclaimed folk singer, when a brash New York writer forces her to confront her loss and the ambiguous circumstances of his death.(IMDB)
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis, and Blythe Danner.
Writers: Desiree Van Till and Sean Mewshaw.
Director: Sean Mewshaw
Rating: R
Running Time: 105mins
Trailer:
Grief has been a subject that has been covered before in film and this one sort of dealt with this as well, serving as the circumstance in which the two leads came together. Hannah (Hall) was a broken woman after the death of her husband. She is stuck in the past as she desperately tries to keep the memory of her husband alive. She is challenged when a writer from New York named Andrew (Sudeikis) comes along , wanting to write a book about her husband.
This film was not overly revolutionary in terms of its plot, making it rather predictable but it isn’t always about the destination but more about the journey. Hannah and Andrew start off as opposites who learn to rally around each other and what they both have in common. Hannah was hesitant to work with Andrew since being stuck in the past made her overly protective of her husband’s memory and she thought he would tarnish his memory.
The film played with their differences, pinning Hannah, the country girl, and Andrew, the city guy. Seeing Andrew learn the country life was fun to watch, with plenty moments of hilarity. We also got to see how much of a small town it was by how tight knit the community was. Everyone knew about her husband but they also all knew the trouble she was having after having lost him. The film hints at Hannah’s previous life with the film starting after her husband died and Andrew also had a life but it didn’t really matter.
They may not have started off under the best of circumstances but then they had more of a brother and sister relationship which of course became more over time as they helped each other with their own problems. Continuing with the predictability, a surprising twist comes along later in the film that challenges their relationship. The film fell apart a little here as the twist could have been handle better. It just felt like it came out of nowhere.
This was a beautiful film to watch, featuring the British Columbia countryside masquerading as Maine. This was important since it was another character in the film as it played a major part, along with the other leads. Hannah’s husband Hunter’s music, which was played in the film, was well done by an artist named Damien Jurado.
The acting was good throughout with Hall and Sudeikis as serviceable leads. The both were believable and relatable and their chemistry made their relationship believable and made them great to watch together. The film didn’t give much of a chance for Hannah to show her grief but she was still good here, with her inner conflict of moving on. Sudeikis playing against type but still playing a familiar character but it still worked here as he was very likable.
Overall, this was beautifully shot, albeit slightly formulaic romance film with good performances by Hall and Sudeikis which made things more interesting to watch
Score: 7.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.