Accidents Happen

Accidents Happen – Sydney Film Festival, June 2009 I was sold on this film by a description of Geena Davis who "shines as the screwball mother". The SFF program seemed to promise a screwball family comedy, with Davis' fearlessness in performance carrying the required bravado. So I was surprised when the opening sequence, a slow-motion shot of a playing child interrupted by an elderly neighbour accidentally barbecuing himself, suggested another tone was in the offing: a coming-of-age black comedy. That combination works well here.

To labour the labeling a little, ladling on a portmanteau, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN is a 'dramedy'. It's a realistic story of an early 80s suburban family unit fractured by an auto accident. The emotional weight of their tragedy squeezes absurdity out of the cracks in their stasis. Gloria Conway (Davis) turns her rapid-fire wit to lashing her 'useless' ex-husband but that is clearly a losing game for her as she is not much more on top of her grief for their lost children than he is.

The relationship between surviving but bereft younger son Billy and his ballsy mother is the meat of the film. They present a remarkably compelling take on an interdependent relationship. They made me really care that they would work it out, and a refreshing change from the common film stereotype of merely alienated teens.

The film overall is a showcase of great characterization through screen writing and performances, not just from the poised teen-aged leads but also minor characters like the barbecue-induced widow Mrs Smolensky. She steps startlingly out of being a background character in the payoff scene at the film's end.

That final sequence also left me backpedaling on conclusions I leapt to earlier about the film's symbolism. Up until that point, the crucial role of a bowling ball in the plot lent itself to symbolism of emotional baggage, a crushing burden to carry and destructively out of control when neglected. That ball's ultimate destination revealed over the end-credits indicates the authors either didn't have that in mind, or were pointing us to some other significance entirely. Comments here suggesting what that significance might be are very welcome.

Originally posted at http://moviebookchats.posterous.com/movie-review-accidents-happen

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.

'Monumental' was the word that flashed through my mind during the emotional climax. The film itself or the emotional place it had taken me to, I don't know, but that was the word. Mostly I laughed my way through the film but when I stopped laughing I cried great buckets. I also had to keep relaxing the tension in my face and body as I found it a very stressful journey. Right from the beginning we learn that there will be no easy outs, anything and everything can happen. Like all good films this one let me leave my inner critic at the door and completely surrender to the unfolding twisting tale of searing black comedy and bitter soulful tragedy.

Geena Davis has always been brilliant but has she ever had such a brilliantly written role? Has any female actor? What starts as a dragon that breathes caustic wit unravels to reveal a woman that despite all odds continues to be the foundation, mortar and soulful centre for everyone. I found her character so utterly real and so refreshing for a female lead. She had balls, vulnerability, sex appeal, intelligence and of course great wit.

It must be hard for any nationality to see themselves played by others. One character is one thing but a whole neighbourhood and era could seem presumptuous. I couldn't comment on US reaction, accents or historical correctness, however, I did find it interesting to apply Australian storytelling to a universal tale and then set it in North America. What you get is an almost unbearably tragic but ultimately stoic tale told through an unrelenting, disposable wit and a brevity of emotion which never once falls into sentimentality or over indulgence.

It is sumptuous to watch in its cinematography and art direction and the young cast is deftly directed to deal with some of life's cruelest blows. What matters most is the story and there is so much meat to chew on in terms of character, plot and themes. It moves so swiftly from one cataclysmic event to the next proving not only that in life the only constant is change but also that it is bloody hard to keep up with that change; that life is uncontrollable and we are at its mercy to make sense of its absurdity. This film has a great future for a hip audience. From a viewer's entertainment perspective this film is monumental.

Call me abnormal, but a movie based around families loved ones all dying in random car crashes, is nothing I can digest as a comedy. This movie seemed like it was going for a Indie feel, but didn't have any real edge to it. It was a bunch of tragedies after another, but they weren't really funny or ironic. Even the moments that were supposed to be emotional, were awkward or set up poorly. This movie just couldn't pull things together to connect emotionally with the viewer. That said, one thing this movie did do a good job at was with making the set look like things from the 80s. It looked like it could have been the set from E.T..