User reviews

(2011) Harvest DRAMA

Independent film co-produced, written and directed by Marc Meyers centering on teen Josh Winters (Jack Carpenter) visiting his grandfather and putting all his goals/ love life on hold for the purpose of spending time with his grandfather's, Siv (Robert Loggia) last remaining days which involve many pointless babblings. Watch "Rocket Gibraltar" instead, or Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberry or Kurosawa's film "Ikiru" for that matter because this one hasn't a single ounce of authenticity in terms of the dialogue. Obvious influence from David O' Russell's "The Fighter" because of the technique of hand held style and improvisational dialogue.

This is a film that primarily is told through Josh, the grandson in a family with a patriarch living with cancer. The matriarch has dementia. The family lives in a quaint northeastern town with beautiful houses by the ocean. Victoria Clark plays Josh's mother, a divorced woman in the famous sandwich generation, caring for her parents in their home, while being a mother still to her college aged son. Josh has two uncles, one still living in the paternal home and one who is a local politician in the town where they all live. There is tension between the brothers that adds an interesting subplot to the film. What really stands out in this film is the lovely cinematography, tight script and fabulous performances by a cast of wonderful accomplished actors. They create a family that anyone who has experience life and death with a family that has some quirky dynamics will recognize and appreciate. The real star of the film is Marc Meyers, the young film director who also wrote the screenplay. It is astonishing how he was able to bring such a professional full bodied movie to the screen with enormous sensitivity. He is a filmmaker to watch.