By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hilary Brougher
Starring: Amber Tamblyn | Dennis O’Hare | Melissa Leo | Tilda Swinton | Timothy Hutton
Country: united_states
Year: 2007
Running time: 92
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483812/
Michael says: “STEPHANIE DALEY is a small, indie film that had a brief run in Boston back in May. It starred Tilda Swinton
(THE DEEP END; TEKNOLUST) and Amber Tamblyn (THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS), and got fairly positive reviews. It also disappeared in a week. Fortunately, this well-written, thoughtful film about guilt and loss is out on DVD and is worth a look, especially for fans of Swinton. Director Hilary Brougher has written and directed two film; the first back in the mid-90’s, was called THE STICKY FINGERS OF TIME, a Canadian science fiction film with the only recognizable name in the cast being James Urbaniak (FAY GRIM). Jump forward nearly 10 years, and Brougher is back with her second film, executive produced by Swinton, which make me think that had a hand in its release. The story on its own, while strong and well-crafted, seems much more likely to play as a television movie dealing as it does with issues surrounding pregnancy, loss, and guilt. You know, those women’s issues that play so much better on the small screen than the large. (That’s sarcasm, in case you missed it).
“Lydie Crane is a forensic psychologist who is hired to examine the case of Stephanie Daley is a sixteen-year-old girl accused of murdering her newborn infant. Stephanie comes from a religious family with a strict mother. Stephanie insists she didn’t even know she was pregnant until giving premature birth at six-months in a toilet stall at a ski lodge. Lydie is just over seven-months pregnant, and suffered a still-birth just ten months earlier. There are definitely hidden issues swirling around her and her husband Paul (Timothy Hutton) that slowly bubble over the rim to complicate Lydie’s life.
“What I really liked about STEPHANIE DALEY was the fact that while there are two separate-but-related stories going on, each is allowed to progress to its own natural conclusion without then getting irrevocably tangled. They certainly effect each other, but they do so in a believable way that doesn’t seem like it’s a storyline from a movie. Tilda Swinton is a marvel, or course, starting things off as a well-balanced, happy, professional woman before slowly revealing the cracks in her façade. Amber Tamblyn does a good job with a dramatic role that’s all about not knowing the truth. The supporting roles of Timothy Hutton, Dennis O’Hare and Melissa Leo add to the strength of the film. Definitely worth a rental! 4 cats.”