DVD Review - Down to the Bone
This film won several awards at the Sundance Film Festival for its director Debra Granik and its leading actress Vera Farmiga. Farmiga also won last year's Best Actress award from the LA Film Critics. And if there was any justice she would have been nominated for an Oscar but this is a low budget independent film and there wasn't any money for her to "campaign" for a nomination.
The story focuses on a woman named Irene who lives in upstate New York. She is married, has two children and works in a supermarket as a cashier. She is also addicted to cocaine. Her addiction clouds her judgment and makes her a less than ideal mother. Her husband Steve (Clint Jordan) isn't the best influence as he smokes quite a bit of pot and always has a beer in his hand.
Irene realizes that she must seek help and checks into a rehab center. While she is there she strikes up a friendship with a male nurse named Bob who is played by Hugh Dillon (they met briefly in an earlier scene). After Irene leaves rehab she and Steve attend twelve step meetings together. But Irene's marriage leaves a lot to be desired. She and Steve get very close and one thing leads to another. Things start to go haywire but I will not say how because you will have to see the film to find out more.
Granik does a good job considering that this is her first film. The dialog and narrative are very realistic and for that we have Granik and her co-screenwriter Richard Lieske to thank. The
feel of the film is low budget and gritty but that is okay because it fits the story. The acting is good and Dillon, in particular, is very good. But the film belongs to Farmiga. You can feel her pain by just looking in her eyes. The New York Times Sunday magazine recently featured a piece on her and she is in Martin Scorsese's new film The Departed. I predict a great acting career in her future.
The DVD features a short film entitled Snake Feed. It is an interesting little film and it is the story that Down to the Bone is based on. I think that many people's perception of New York City is that it is a crazy place to live. But they have a more wholesome image of the rest of the state. This film proves otherwise as these blue collar working folks have as many demons in their closets as those who live in the Big Apple.
The story focuses on a woman named Irene who lives in upstate New York. She is married, has two children and works in a supermarket as a cashier. She is also addicted to cocaine. Her addiction clouds her judgment and makes her a less than ideal mother. Her husband Steve (Clint Jordan) isn't the best influence as he smokes quite a bit of pot and always has a beer in his hand.
Irene realizes that she must seek help and checks into a rehab center. While she is there she strikes up a friendship with a male nurse named Bob who is played by Hugh Dillon (they met briefly in an earlier scene). After Irene leaves rehab she and Steve attend twelve step meetings together. But Irene's marriage leaves a lot to be desired. She and Steve get very close and one thing leads to another. Things start to go haywire but I will not say how because you will have to see the film to find out more.
Granik does a good job considering that this is her first film. The dialog and narrative are very realistic and for that we have Granik and her co-screenwriter Richard Lieske to thank. The
feel of the film is low budget and gritty but that is okay because it fits the story. The acting is good and Dillon, in particular, is very good. But the film belongs to Farmiga. You can feel her pain by just looking in her eyes. The New York Times Sunday magazine recently featured a piece on her and she is in Martin Scorsese's new film The Departed. I predict a great acting career in her future.
The DVD features a short film entitled Snake Feed. It is an interesting little film and it is the story that Down to the Bone is based on. I think that many people's perception of New York City is that it is a crazy place to live. But they have a more wholesome image of the rest of the state. This film proves otherwise as these blue collar working folks have as many demons in their closets as those who live in the Big Apple.
posted by Film Fanatic | 2:49 PM
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