The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom

I recently saw this fantastic Canadian production, and I was so happy to bring my 13 year old son. Although it's a coming of age story through the experiences of a young girl, it resonates so eloquently with all of us, boys & girls, men & women, about what it means to answer the question: "who am I"?

The subtle power of the young lead Julia Stone helps the viewer believe in her quest: innocent and determined.

And my hat is off to director Tara Johns in creating the mood and literally the colour of the period in every way.

I'd see it again:)

It's 1976. Elizabeth Alison Gray (Julia Sarah Stone) is an 11 year old from the Canadian prairies. She discovers that she was adopted by her parents. She starts to believe that Dolly Parton is her mom and sets off on her bicycle to Minneapolis to find her. Her adoptive mother Marion goes off to find the runaway girl.

This is Canadian indie filmed in Winnipeg. Julia Stone is a cute new actress with plenty of screen presence. The title is whimsical. There are some quirky characters. There are good songs especially if you like Dolly Parton. It has some stuff on the plus side. On the other hand, the story can be slow. There are too many silent moments intended to add atmosphere. It isn't as dramatic as it could have been. There isn't much of a plot. It's kinda cute and touching.

Misleading title and casting list....only had a voice over cameo from Dolly. Even if that wasn't bothersome, the movie was confusing and poorly written, shot, and acted. Just kind of a mess with a jumble of plot lines that don't connect. The color grading was over the top and there was too much shaky cam.. It gets points for creativity I guess, but the film strongly seems to be "trying too. hard." It was a waste of my evening to watch it, wish I could get that time back. I mean, the only reason I watched it was because it said it had Dolly Parton in it, but I never even got to see her, other than in stock footage! This movie didn't seem to know what it wanted to be about.....coming of age? Social justice? Identity? Adopted child rights? Bad parenting? Bullying? Overall the movie needed to cut out the Dolly Parton stuff, and have a script overhaul.

Last weekend I took my children to see this movie in Vancouver. My daughters are 12 and 9 so the story really spoke to them both. Without giving anything away, it's safe to say that the movie tells the very complex story of the relationship between a mother and her daughter. It's a great commentary on real-life mother/daughter relationships. We love our kids so much that sometimes it's just really hard to admit that they have minds of their own. The 3 of us agreed that it was a wonderful film. It didn't hurt that our friend played the main character either :) Julia Stone was amazing in her role as Elizabeth. I'd recommend this film to anyone. The entire audience was engaged throughout and even the boys enjoyed the movie. Great job Tara!

I took both of my kids this past weekend and was very impressed. While it was a bit over their heads at times (they are 7 & 4 yrs old) it still captured their attention and I believe they left with a very positive message about the trials of coming of age. Well, maybe my four year old did not get quite that much, but she loved the Dolly Parton songs & costumes ;)

As a parent it was a great reminder that sometimes you just have to let your kids be kids, let them find their way - not always an easy thing to do. Hats off to cast and crew - another feather in the cap for Canadian film.