Finding Home

The photography is beautiful. The actors are attractive and their characters have moments of interest. I enjoyed the first half hour or so of a slowly unfolding story of family conflict, nostalgia for an interrupted youth. Frequent flashbacks enlivened the development of the backstory.

However, the slow unfolding became a plodding march from incident to incident more akin to the animation of a bulleted list than the representation of a maturing person.

The acting and cinematography talent are wasted on an overly long, contrived, unbelievable and trite plot. The writing is wooden to the point of embarrassment. My wife summed it up: This is the movie equivalent of a Good Housekeeping novel, in the worst sense.

How did this movie win an award and receive a four star rating? Was it four stars out of ten or what? It was so BAD, so unbelievably soap-opera predictable, that it had me mesmerized.

I found myself waiting desperately for the dog to return, since his acting outshone that of any of the human actors. The main character was ridiculous, her friend was so ill defined as to be non existent and her love interests were A) clichéd and B) wooden.

And what is with Genevieve Bujold? I could say that perhaps she has fallen on hard times, but her acting was as weak as the rest. I've been to high school plays with more believable characters than these.

How do movies like this get funding?

"Finding Home" is a warm and touching story, the title being an apt metaphor for a story of many levels. The time elements are well-handled, going back and forth from past to present, in such a way as to make sense and not be confusing. The pace of the film matches the pace of the natural lifestyle of living on a Maine island. As a native Mainer I was pleased that the artists used a natural style of speaking rather than using fake-sounding Maine accents, which also reflects the current way of life on the Maine coast, as over the past decades more and more "people from away" have become Mainers making their livelihoods on the coast, so it is naturally less occurring to hear true "down-east" Maine accents in a tourist setting. And the different sounding accent of the inn keeper seems realistic for the Maine coast. The plot is interesting to me, of a young professional woman returning to Maine as an adult who has forgotten much of a significant childhood time that she left a decade or more ago. In that respect, it is one of the parallels that remind me of the movie "Dolores Claiborne". I have to honestly say that I didn't always find the quality of acting in "Finding Home" to be as sophisticated and experienced as I found in "Dolores Claiborne", but i did find it to be believable and genuine. The quality of the story, however, is heartwarming and very touching. There is enough intrigue to keep one's interest in wanting to find out what happens next. There is brilliant acting of some complicated roles and scenes, in particular those of the mother in the picture. The flashback scenes are believable, and while they lead to the unveiling of a traumatic event, that event is blessedly less horrific than the viewer has come to dread experiencing. And the quality of the movie, visual and auditory, is kinder on the senses, and a welcome relief from "too loud and shocking" that I find all too often in current films. At the end of the movie I felt peaceful and satisfied, and relieved with the honest depiction of characters. Most human beings are not all good or all bad, and some of the most difficult issues in the lives of the characters are treated sensitively and in a well-rounded, realistic and matter-of-fact way. I am grateful to have been treated to a really good story without jarring instances of violence, bad language, raw sex, or brutality. Very well done!

This movie moved me in a very profound and subtle way. So much so, that I watched this movie twice, listened to the directors talk thru, watched every little snippet of the DVD. Finally, I tracked down the creators of this movie to share my experience. Never done any of that before! (& i don't know the writers, but would like too!)

First off, the location is magical. I was transported to a most amazing place in Maine. The beautiful scenery captured my heart right off. Then the characters. I loved that they were real actors, not Hollywood big names. I cared about Amanda and thru that empathy was able to very easily give myself over to her as she genuinely transformed thru her experience of returning home.

I cried, laughed and was transported to a place that smelled of a curious memory of moments long ago. Snuggle with some snacks, your favorite chair and a blanket...and enjoy! One of my top 10 favorite movies ever! Ignore any bad press and see this movie! It's so special!

Finding Home was shot on an island off the coast of Maine and the photography is superb. The music is also terrific. A young woman inherits her Grandmother's coastal inn and must decide whether to keep it or sell it. Along the way she unlocks a mystery from the past. While the plot and acting are interesting enough, the pacing is slow and the dialog trite. Some scenes become repetitious and at least 20 minutes should be cut. But Finding Home captures the elusive beauty of a remote New England island summer vacation that more famous films never did (A Summer Place, Cider House Rules, The Whales of August.) I'm guessing this will go straight to video... where it will become popular with people who love that romantic "downeast" coastal mystique. (I want that pristine modified lobster boat used to ferry people to the island! )