Perfect Pie

I found it hard to be sympathetic with the characters in this film, especially the character of Francesca/Marie. They just seemed to missing depth--I could not get into them. One of the reasons for this, I think, is that the pivotal rape scene was not filmed correctly. It appeared hackneyed while at the same time lacking drama. This scene is the basis for the entire film, especially with the flashbacks, and to have it appear lackluster and dull makes the entire film need something more. Moreover, for a dirty poor girl, Alison Pill is presented in the film as too clean and pretty. I could not connect with her in this context. This is not to say that the story isn't good. In fact, Thompson's play is quite engaging and was successful at making me feel for the characters. However, in contrast, the film was quite a disappointment. The film deviates from the original play too much and the meaning behind the story is lost.

Francesca Prine, formerly Marie Beck (Barbara Williams) is a troubled famous opera singer. Her former best friend Patsy Willets (Wendy Crewson) invites her to sing in their hometown after thirty years of separation. In flashbacks, Marie (Alison Pill) and Patsy (Rachel McAdams) are the closest companions until Marie leaves an unconscious Patsy in the hospital permanently. They were ten when they first met.

This does become a waiting game. One is always waiting to go back to Alison Pill and future A-lister Rachel McAdams. Their time seems to be the important part of the movie and contains the big revelation. I don't mind the present day story, but it should be the wrap-around story of the movie. This is based on a play and I don't know anything about that. No matter what, this needs to change.

Perfect Pie is a beautiful film about friendship. It weaves the past with the present and the stellar performances of the actresses make the trip through time seamless and enjoyable. Wendy Crewson's portrayal of Patsy is gentle and lovely while never allowing the audience to lose sight of the character's inner strength and determination. A "must see" movie for anyone who has ever had a best friend.

This is a low budget woman's movie with a bad title. But that doesn't detract from the fact it is an extraordinarily sensitive and engrossing item. It is a simple story of female friendship, neatly knitted to-gether with well done flashbacks. It's a film anyone, male or female, rural or urban, can identify with, nicely shot, well performed and ably crafted with a definite Canadian accent and style.

Some wonderful vignettes but all in all cohesion was missing. A pivotal scene - the very heart of the plot, so to speak, was handled almost dismissively, a real shame. Three time frames are in the movie and sometimes you just don't get quite enough before another time shift. A very mixed bag. Crewson and Williams play off each other beautifully as do their 15 year old selves played by Pill and MacAdams ( one scene of Patsy picking nits out of Marie's hair is particularly poignant). But most of all it played flatly, not enough meat in any scene to grab one and connect one with the characters. Some tightening of the editing and a longer key scene would have increased the horror and given the viewer more of a connection. And one major flaw was that Marie, a hopelessly neglected and filthy child of a down-and-out, alcoholic mother (she apparently does not bathe and smells) is remarkably clean and looks well cared for throughout. At the end the character of Francesca was still at a remove from her audience. 6 out of 10.