#54 - Falling Angels

You may have to bear with me on this one. Not only am I writing this on my birthday, but I went to a Cubs game earlier and then boozed it up a little afterwards. (Reds won, Griffey Jr. got a HR, and Jaque Jones the former Twin hit a HR too, so I was pleased) But it's late, my typing skills are a little rough, but I will do this review dammit.

And let me just say, this is a good movie. It definitely is one of those ones I wouldn't have picked on my own. The DVD was released by this group called The Film Movement. They release monthly DVD's of art house type movies. Kind of in the way Time Life does business. The reason I probably wouldn't have picked it is because I can only go so far with art house movies. Most of them are foreign because apparently, only foreign countries make art movies. And they are independent too, and there is a huge level of pretentiousness surrounding art house and independent movies that I just don't want to be a part of. But this is a good movie, and its from Canada too, ya hoser.

This movie is a bit of a dark comedy that deals with what happens when people don't deal with tagedy and try to ignore it. But it's not so much about the people who are denying the tragedy, it's about the impact it has on those around them, most notably the three daughters in this movie. I can't stress enough how dynamic the relationships in this movie are. There is a level of love overshadowed by a level of disdain in this movie that is really powerful. The three daughters each deal with the unspoken missing truth in their family's life in a different way. The mom is a zombie of regret and the father is overbearing and cold. I really want to talk about it more, but I don't want to say too much about it because the truth unfolds so well that I really don't want to ruin it.

I read something about it on imdb.com that was titled, "Blame it on dad, again." That couldn't be further from the truth. If you just take what you are given at the begining of the movie, then yes, it is a blame it on dad kind of thing, but towards the end there is a level of acceptance, redemption, and repentance that let you know that this is more than just a blame it on dad festival.

Another note about the DVD: WIth each Film Movement DVD they have a short film on the disc. The one on this disc is about three minutes and it is about a guy who breaks each of the ten commandements in about...three minutes. It's quite funny and is a good complement to the film. Rent this movie and come back and tell me what you think, because it is really well done. I wanted to watch it again right after I first watched it, and that's saying a lot.