La seconde chance

I watched this movie when I was 12, and it seriously screwed with my brain. I couldn't stop crying. Is it melodramatic? Yes. Is there anything happy or positive about it? Not really.

I know that people either love or hate this movie, but for me it's more multilayered than that. This movie taught me something about not making harsh judgments about people, and the desperate need people have for kindness. These lessons have been invaluable in my life.

The vibe almost borrows from To Kill a Mockingbird. You wish the poor girl in this movie could just find some peace, but she can't. So many broken people in this world can't find peace, and that's the point. To stop and ask yourself why...

For most of my life I've sort of stated that the well-received, sort of hyped Best-Picture type films (Fight Club, American Beauty, Godfather, English Patient, etc. etc. etc.) have been my favorite films.

But then I saw "The Spitfire Grill". Or rather, I saw a preview for it. And I somehow knew that this film would surpass all others in its beauty and simplicity.

The story is simple, the themes universal, the cinematography drop-dead gorgeous, and the music haunting. Allison Elliot and Ellen Burstyn are prime actors of their generations. If you ever want to watch a film about the mistakes we all inevitably can make, the relationships and friendships we all eventually have to form to heal us, and the power of forgiveness and helping others, and the transcendent, trans formative power of love and connecting to nature in a way that reminds of our unity, watch "The Spitfire Grill." I don't think I've ever cried more emotionally at the end of a movie, and not a hard sobbing, but more like a life-draining, emotionally cathartic cry. Absolutely unforgettable.

For a film that won the audience award at Sundance, this film must have played briefly in this area, as I have no memory of it when it was released. I saw it on cable recently; it was a surprise, but in retrospect, there are a few things that bothered me later.

It appears this is the first film for the director. Lee David Zlotoff is a product of television, as far as I've learned. Not having seen anything he has created before, I can only compare this film to similar fare one sees in the "movie-of-the-week" film made for that medium.

I have no way of knowing if the accents these actors speak are really from Maine, or from the South, as I have never met any one from that state where the action takes place. That said, the film will not disappoint because it tells a good story. It's easy to like, although it is predictable.

Young Percy Talbot can't shake her past. Instead of fleeing to a big city and getting lost there, she selects the small town of Gilead in rural Maine. Her choice of locales will proves Percy wrong. In the town, she manages to touch the lives of a lot of the local folk, who in return, show her kindness, after an initial rejection.

Allison Elliott was effective as the young woman. Ellen Burstyn, as Hannah, is quite good. Marcia Gay Harden underplays Shelby, the woman who gains Percy's trust. Will Patton is the only one that has nothing to do in the film.

This movie got pretty bad reviews from the Hollywood Hype-mongers. I suppose because it didn't have a lot of flash. All it had was a well-written original story and superb acting with real characters. Anyone who has ever spent time in a small town can identify with nearly all the characters. I could practically name them all in the town I grew up in. I'm sure the only people who would NOT enjoy this movie are the ones who grew up in Hollywood and believe everyone is like them. If thats not you, rent this movie for a truly enjoyable evening. But you might want to bring tissues. It's a very warm and often funny movie, but it's also very sad in some places. Will Patton is incredible and I honestly don't understand why Alison Elliott hasn't been used more than she has since this movie. Ellen Burstyn was glorious as ever :)

Percy Talbott (Alison Elliot) is a young woman, who has just left jail, and goes to Gillead, a small town in Maine looking for a new beginning of her life. She gets a job in a diner place called Spitfire Grill, owned by Hannah Ferguson Ellen Burstyn). Hannah lost her beloved son Elli in Vietnam, and is a very aggressive woman. Her nephew Nahum Goddard (Will Patton) is the local real-estate broker and has been trying to sell the place for ten years. He mistreat his wife Shelby Goddard (Marcia Gay Harden), questioning her intelligence most of the time. When Percy arrives in town, she changes the behavior not only of Hannah and Shelby, but of the local citizen, and deep secrets are disclosed. I bought the VHS "Spitgrill Fire" in 1998 and only today I have watched it. It is a sensitive story, filmed in beautiful locations in Maine and very supported by the performance by the outstanding central trio of actresses. The story is delightful most of the time and although having a good message in the end, I did not like the fate of Percy. I know life may be unfair, there are many envious and prejudicial people, but the story is fiction so I believe the writer used a very "heavy hand" to conclude the destiny of Percy. I would prefer a most commercial end for her character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Spitfire Grill – O Recomeço" ("Spittfire Grill – The New Beginning")