Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Coming of Age in Connecticut


I’ll never be able to stand death or cope with it. I could watch a thousand movies where characters learn and grow to accept it and never be satisfied. Harvest is among the stronger attempts I’ve seen to reconcile the two difficult subjects of family and loss.

The film follows three generations of a family in shoreline Connecticut, spending their last summer together before the death of the patriarch, Grandpa Siv (Robert Loggia.) There is Feng Shui and Yoga mother (Victoria Clark,) joined by her pot-belly-garbage-golfer-never-been-married brother (Arye Gross,) and her college student son (Jack Carpenter,) taking care of grandpa and grandma. Grandma is a movie all by herself, suffering from dementia, she sweeps the grass and likes to throw cookies in the air.

The writing and acting around the characters are both outstanding. The movie is seen largely through the perspective of the youngest, and Carpenter is steady throughout as Josh. He is realistic in scenes where he acts his age (wanting to escape yelling “It’s too f---ing boring!,”) as well as scenes where he acts wise beyond his years.

I loved the scene where young Josh became angry at his mother, talking “I’m destined to be alone. It’s like it’s in our genes or something.” I can definitely relate to that fear. Most relationships end before the people in them do.

I also loved Robert Loggia in his portrayal of Siv, a man succumbing to pancreatic cancer. His big scene involved a beautiful bike ride around his coastline small town, where people play Bocce ball on their lawns and line Main Street for the annual parade. At 80 plus and dying of cancer, he rides across the entire town to speak with his sister for five minutes. Peaceful moment aside, the film also addresses Siv’s failures and regrets. All of the characters have complicated pasts.

The final deathbed scene is extremely powerful and I couldn’t help but think of my own grandparents while watching it. I think most people that have gone through similar experiences can recognize the realism in the dialogue and acting here. Writer/Director Marc Meyers is truly gifted.

I give Harvest an A-. It had memorable lines, scenes and characters. There are no weak links in the ensemble cast. Maybe there were a few familiar aspects to the story, the undocumented saucy Latina housekeeper perhaps, that veered a little close to cliché but the story overall was very sweet and thoughtful.

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