Check Out the Trailer

When any movie is really well written, it takes on the tension of a great mystery. There are no murders or secret plots in this film, but we are on the edge of our seats nonetheless. Director Phil Morrison and writer Angus MacLachlan’s film gets everything so right it’s scary.

George (Alessandro Nivola, MANSFIELD PARK) has moved from North Carolina to Chicago, where he meets art dealer named Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz, BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY). After a quick courtship, they marry. Madeleine falls in love with the folk art of David Wark (Frank Hoyt Taylor, 28 DAYS), so she travels to meet him. Because he lives close to George’s family, they make it a double visit.

Before they arrive, we meet George’s family. George’s mother, Peg (Celia Weston, IN THE BEDROOM), is a cold, headstrong woman, who obviously adores George more than anything else in her life. His father, Eugene (Scott Wilson, MONSTER), is a quiet man, who seems to float through life, but what we discover is that he isn’t a simple man, but a man who observes without saying what he thinks until it is asked of him. George’s younger brother, Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie, TV’s THE O.C.), isn’t bright, which creates a buried anger in him that often bursts out in inappropriate moments. Johnny is married to his pregnant, high school sweetheart Ashley (Amy Adams, THE WEDDING DATE), who almost bubbles over with anticipation for George’s arrival.

When George and Madeleine arrive, Ashley begins to ask Madeleine question after question. Ashley clings to Madeleine like a person who isn’t spoken to that often. George hasn’t been home for three years and we start to see there are a lot of issues that exist between the various members of the family.

The film understands each character as individuals. It quietly observes each of them. Even though he is the central character, George is the most elusive character to understand. His feelings are never clearly spelled out for the viewer, but if you watch his actions when he first arrives at home, his reaction to what he is asked to do at the church social, his reaction to Madeleine going to see Wark toward the end and his surprising last line, then you will start to get the full picture of what he is feeling and thinking. Feelings and emotions surrounding families are complex and this film knows that really well.

Amy Adams most certainly deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance. It’s one of the best performances of the year — male or female. She is electric. Yet, to single her out in this film would be short-changing all the great performances. The actors also play off each other wonderfully. Peg and Eugene feel like a couple that has been married for ages. In most films all the couples, no matter how long they’ve been together, seem like they just met. Not here. Peg and Eugene have dropped the niceties of a new couple and are just themselves.

The film also has the smarts to know that life does not revolve around George coming home. Issues will be brought out, but there isn’t a big hug at the end. The film also knows that life happened before the action of this film occurred and that life will continue after George and Madeleine go back home. The film deals with themes of family, the clash of city and country folk and how George bridges both cultures. Sometimes more profound truth comes from a simple story that truly understands its characters than if the film is filled with a high-concept plot. This is a rare film of great power. One of the absolute best films of 2005. Do not miss it.