Overall, a very worthwhile film. Exciting,,no. It was a dialogue-based character study or writer-driven movie with a good deal of realism.
If you like to watch real people live their lives with a relevant soundtrack in the background and a problem, conflict, and resolution all wrapped up within a couple of hours, then you will enjoy this film.
Ed Burns, a small town drifter returns to his hometown, consequently jars the lives of the people he left behind and his own, conflicts and reflection ensue, catharsis sets in, and resolution concludes.
Lauren Holly gives an Oscar-worthy performance in this small film. From the beginning and throughout, we feel her angst, her joys, her fears as if they were our own. No small feat for any actor.
It could have been much more effective however if burns had written in some scenes where characters would give some meaty speeches about the morality of their decisions and lifestyles. Clearly the Burns character was bordering on amoral, so other characters should have schooled him with some passionate sense of justice. This was implied several times, but never really made an impact.
Of course the types of people who live in sleepy blue collar towns don't necessarily make a practice of giving impassioned morality speeches, but presumably someone in town was a churchgoer.
If you like to watch real people live their lives with a relevant soundtrack in the background and a problem, conflict, and resolution all wrapped up within a couple of hours, then you will enjoy this film.
Ed Burns, a small town drifter returns to his hometown, consequently jars the lives of the people he left behind and his own, conflicts and reflection ensue, catharsis sets in, and resolution concludes.
Lauren Holly gives an Oscar-worthy performance in this small film. From the beginning and throughout, we feel her angst, her joys, her fears as if they were our own. No small feat for any actor.
It could have been much more effective however if burns had written in some scenes where characters would give some meaty speeches about the morality of their decisions and lifestyles. Clearly the Burns character was bordering on amoral, so other characters should have schooled him with some passionate sense of justice. This was implied several times, but never really made an impact.
Of course the types of people who live in sleepy blue collar towns don't necessarily make a practice of giving impassioned morality speeches, but presumably someone in town was a churchgoer.