Accidents Happen

I recently ventured to the 8th Annual Tribeca Film Festival to see the anticipated film "Accidents Happen".

I was aware that the wonderful Geena Davis was in the picture which enticed me but was unaware that the cast had a few outstanding younger actors.

I expected a great film from the first scene but did not expect the outstanding, true and genuine performance that a young new shining talent - Harry Cook gave from start to finish. Every scene was honest & true there was an underlining depth that young actors rarely possess. I am never teary in films, but Cook's incredible performance brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

14 yr old Harrison Gilbertson also stood out in this film to me as someone you genuinely cared for. The cast were fabulous.

It was an absolute pleasure to watch this film & Harry Cook stood out in my eyes as truly remarkable talent that the world has been searching for for quite some time. I'm very impressed by everyone's work & look forward to seeing more from them all in the future.

Jane Griffin review-tribecafilm-accidentshappen09(C)

It's 1982, and Billy Conway (Harrison Gilbertson) lives in a shattered family. Eight years ago, his family was in a car accident that killed his sister and made his brother a vegetable. His father has since left the family. His older brother is an angry drunk. His mother (Geena Davis) is struggling mightily to keep things together.

The boy is an irresponsible destructive selfish brat. It is impossible to root for him. Certainly he makes it hard to find anything likable in his behavior. It is very tiring to watch this idiot destroy everything he touches. Geena Davis does get some great lines. In one superb scene, she almost saves the movie all by herself. She's really the only thing to watch this movie for.

I was fortunate enough to see this film at the world premiere at the TriBeCa Film Festival. And I have to say I loved it. From the opening frames it proved itself to be a film which is fresh, funny, sad, curious and smart.

Geena Davis is a delight to watch as she inhabits this rather self-focused, wise talking character who surprises us constantly with her ability to move through tragedy and yet still find humor and heart.

Newcomer Harrison Gilbertson, at just 14 years old, shows incredible depth of maturity and range as his character Billy Conway deals with the ups and downs of life.

It's essentially a story of life, albeit a life peppered with tragic accidents. But it manages to avoid being bleak, which is quite a feat given some of the subject matter. It's always human and the writing by Brian Carbee is sharp, funny and poignant.

A great film whose visually stunning scenes will continue to replay in my mind, thanks to the brilliance of first time director Andrew Lancaster and cinematographer Ben Nott.

Don't miss it.

ACCIDENTS HAPPEN – CATCH IT ( B+ ) Accident happen, is truly a delightful surprise. I am a sucker for Dysfunctional families and Coming of Age movies and this was a perfect combination of both. The movie is beautifully crafted and the slow motion accidents sequences are wonderfully shot. I really appreciate the director Andrew Lancaster who choose a simple story and portrayed so beautifully plus the comic view of severe issue was a different touch. Geena Devis did a fantastic job & her comic timing was just perfect. She proved yet again that she is a great actress. Harrison Gilbertson stole the show for me, he is cute kid and a great performer. I could see in her eyes how talented he was and standing in front of Geena Davis in such complex yet humorous story was wonderful. I surely can bet he will be a huge once he grows up a little more. Overall a great movie with great ensemble cast. Everyone did a great job making this movie memorable for me. Watch it!

This movie did a great job with the period details of 1982 and making Australia look like America and Australians sound like Americans. One mistake though: "Horror Smash" in the newspaper headline is not a phrase you would see in an American newspaper. It's Australian.

The movie starts out alright, but the comic tone at the beginning sadly is not the tone of much of the movie. Then the film tries to be more than it is. Near the end there was this heavy emotional scene where the viewers are supposed to be moved and cry with the characters, but it just didn't work. The "Horror Smash" accident scene around which a lot of the story revolves actually looked pretty minor and how anyone could have possibly been hurt is hard to imagine.

This film has some stellar reviews by IMDb users so far. Look closely and you'll see a lot of those reviewers have never reviewed another film. Gotta make you suspicious. Maybe if you are closely tied to the production, you would really like to believe it is a monumental movie, but it isn't.