Family Tree

This is the first time Director Vicky Jenson has done a live action film, and it will definitely not be the last. A wonderful cast including Harland Will1ams, Talia Shire, Ethan Phillips and several other very talented actors, including a very funny 5 year old boy makes this a must see. Already on the festival circuit at Sundance and soon to be at SXSW in Texas, don't miss it if you get a chance.

This was included on the disk "Shorts: Volume 2"--a rather dull collection of short films. Shorts are among my favorite style of films but somehow the people assembling this second collection had a hard time finding quality content--and it wasn't nearly as good as the first volume or other shorts collections. This particular short film is one of the better ones in the collection.

This is a very strange yet very professionally made short film. While there are no huge stars in it, Talia Shire (from the ROCKY films), Harland Williams (a very funny and strange comedian) and Ethan Phillips (who you won't immediately recognize--he played Nelix on "Star Trek Voyager") all were in the film and everyone concerned did a lovely job acting in this film about family.

The film begins with a couple waking up and you soon realize that the wife's sister is staying with them. Apparently, it's Thanksgiving and the rest of the extended family are anticipated for this first reunion in ten years. However, you soon see that some of the family members are rather inconsiderate and there is a lot of tension in the air. I kept thinking to myself that if these were my sisters, I'd tell them all to go home--and it's certain the husband is less than thrilled with all the picking the women do with each other.

There's MUCH more to this strange story--more characters and an odd secret that the brother has--but I won't bother filling it in because it might spoil the story AND I don't feel this information is that important. That's because this is a film where the overall secret just isn't that important--what IS important are the characters. It was lovely to see the people just unfold and react to each other--and it shows that the writer and director have a great knack for characterizations--a MUST for great film making. This film definitely kept my interest and has me wanting to see more from the talented people who made it.