The Bad and the Good

Just saw this on TV...was really surprised at how bad and fakey the whole thing came across. The shot setups, the script, so many things that just screamed "this is a really bad movie." Even the shot at night in the snow looked like a movie set in Southern California (I know, they shot in Georgia). I don't mind Steve Martin in a serious role, but acting and situations were just so contrived (yes, Silas Marner, I know). The music was awful--sounded like the typical, recycled, manipulative stuff that passes for a movie score. Really terrible.

Contemporary situations were unreal, such as witnesses in a trial sitting in the public's seats during testimony, especially a child. Also money being the sole reason a judge would take a child away from guardian, especially when child (even dramatically) states her preference clearly.

Okay, now on to the good stuff. While Martin could have been better (although he was better in the latter part of the film), it seems that Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney just don't know how to give bad performances! I thought their scenes were the best--they came off to me as more real than other characters. While I like Catherine O'Hara, making her more broadly comic was a mistake. She could have been perfectly fine with a less overtly wise-guy script. And I was truly captivated by Alana Austin. She was one of the most appealing, not at all annoying, child actors I had seen in a long time. I would have enjoyed seeing more films with her at that age (didn't make a huge career, it seems). I enjoyed the scenes between her and Martin; they were more natural than a lot of stiffer, previous scenes.

Overall, it's not a great movie, but had some good things in it. Funny how Kristoffer Tabori is "unconfirmed" (??). I knew he was familiar, but couldn't think of his name until I saw the cast list. I'm certain it was he in the friend's role in the first part of the film.