Sure, it's imperfect, but then so are most classics. "It's a Wonderful Life" is loaded with stereotypes, banalities, and over-acting. "Casablanca" features trite dialog, and the characters of Paul Henreid and Ingrid Bergman seem pretty wishy-washy for supposed heroes. "Bastard" is a biographical tale. Biographies often are episodic and lack continuity just as real life is episodic and lacks continuity. Biographical dialog is sometimes unimaginative because it reflects real life speech; none of us has a professional writer feeding us our lines. However, what "Bastard" does have are unforgettable scenes and images of profound emotional impact, a gritty set of down-home characters presented with gutsy reality by a superlative cast, and Jena Malone. Actually, Miss Malone has relatively few lines in this movie, but her expressive face, and especially her fantastic eyes speak clearly and powerfully from the depths of her heart in every scene. And the lines she does speak stab into our hearts with deadly accuracy. A memorable performance in a memorable movie.
Review of Bastard Out of Carolina
