Saw two films today, ensemble dramas both dealing with politicized issues: land development and race in John Sayle's
Sunshine State and women self-image/esteem in Nicole Holofcener's
Lovely and Amazing.
Generally, I like John Sayles. Yes he can be overly earnest and didactic, with some characters launching into speeches representing various political viewpoints, but Sayles has always been accomplished in his skill at directing actors, the often brilliant tapestry of characterizations that he weaves with his screenplays, and his definite feel for the physical/cultural/economic space that his characters inhabit (I should also say that I prefer his smaller-scale, initimate character studies such as
Passion Fish and
Limbo, over his more ambitious, and more overtly politicized, ensemble dramas such as
Lone Star).
Sunshine State shares all of these characterisitics, with a great ensemble anchored by Edie Falco and Angela Bassett (this has been noted before, most specifically in an article in the magazine
Cineaste, but Sayles is perhaps the most accomplished white writer-director when it comes to minority characters, we get a panopoly), but is hampered by some political points that are so heavyhanded, that it makes
Men With Guns look subtle. Also, the ending is especially disappointing, some of the various narrative threads do come together, but others just either peter out or are left unresolved. It is particularly disappointing when compared to Sayles's brilliant "non-resolution" ending to
Limbo, instead we get a deux ex machina that stops those "evil" developers, not to mention an incredibly contrived shot of a mass exodus from Plantation Island (all of the men in Edie Falco's life, Marc Bluca's golf-pro Scotty, Timothy Hutton's WASPish landscape architect, her layabout ex-husband; not to mention the construction crew hired by the developers). The only narrative thread's resolution that I liked is that, Angela Bassett's Desiree decides to bury the hatchett with her estranged mother, and spend more time together. But mainly, the drama was disappointing. Still, the acting, the characterization, and Sayles's eye for detail more than make the film watchable.
Sayles's could have learned from Holofcener's brilliant DV film,
Lovely and Amazing, that the personal is the political. The film fully integrates it's examination of women's sexuality, body image, self-esteem, careerism, and race into a funny, sad, and touching family ensemble drama (the film launches into it's "thesis" right away with a shot from a photoshoot, when Emily Mortimer's character is made to feel uncomfortable and exploited). Holofcener focuses in on the intimate relationships between the three sisters and their mother, all of whom are struggling with various, interrelated issues, as well as the rather clueless men in their lives (James LeGros is pretty funny in his blankness, and Jake Gyllenhaal is very good as the alienated, lonely young man that Catherine Keener's character creates a relationship with). The film benefits from it's sense of humor and the realistic relationships between the various women, the combination of exasperation, love, and bitchiness. I particularly liked Blethyn as the faintly sad and lonely mother, and Catherine Keener as the rather immature, ex-homecoming queen sister with some "anger" issues and a rather acidic (and hilarious) tongue.
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