By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Angus MacLachlan
Starring: Celia Weston | David Strathairn | Jane Levy | Viktor Hernandez | Will Pullen
Year: 2023
Running time: 91
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22004186/reference/
Diane says: “Oops, a Hallmark special got into Sundance by mistake!
“Bill and his son David, veterans of Vietnam and Afghanistan respectively, run the family business in North Carolina. David’s sweet wife from ‘the holler’ packs lunches for the comfortably middle-class family. David’s workplace affair and re-emerging alcohol problem, and his sister Patty’s return to the family home, with daughter in tow, fleeing from her drug-addicted husband, crash up against Bill’s desire to set his kids up for a good life. The third act reveals some history of Bill’s own. Two feminist takes on abortion are added to the mix, making me wonder whether that was an add-on to make the film more relevant.
“David Straithairn wears the role of Bill with ease, and Celia Weston is a pleaser as the iPad-toting mom who dresses in Moravian garb for her tour guide gig. One hopes for a better role to come for Jane Levy.
“Writer/director Angus MacLachlan (writer, JUNEBUG) is also a playwright, and this production observes too many constraints of the stage. Plagued by a saccharine soundtrack, bad lensing, and lame symbolism. Disregard. 1 cat.”
A Little Prayer