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Joey's Favorite Movie Critic

Reviews:
CANVAS - See Below
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BEST FILMS OF ALL TIME (Nov. 08)  - Click Here

Movie Review:  Canvas

By Patrick C. Kelly patrickthecritic@yahoo.com            

Canvas is a perceptive film concerning mental illness and how it affects those who have the condition and the people around them.   The film also happens to be a warm story about a family touched by the illness, and how they endure and cope with what lies ahead for them.            

Joseph Greco's first feature film begins with several characters going through the routine of a pleasant, normal day.  The children go to school and the parents take them to school and commence a day's work...  The Marino family consists of mother Mary (Marcia Gay Harden) who has a psychiatric condition that she takes medication for, father John (Joe Pantoliano) who is a construction worker, and their 10 year old son Chris (Devon Gearhart).  The son copes well for the most part, takes up sewing so he can make a few bucks by selling his classmates shirts with nifty patterns. He does this with the assistance of his friend Dawn portrayed by Sophia Bairley who demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit.            

Then, Mary's condition goes through a manic phase and she is brought home one night by the police.  The shining blue lights wake up Chris, and he gets a glimpse of the symptoms that his mother exhibits.  John tries his best to handle the situation and others that arise later.            

Mary lovingly nags at her son in an innocent and almost childlike fashion at certain times throughout the picture.  Take for instance, the graceful scene where Mary accompanies Chris to school for what seems like the first time in quite awhile.  The mother demonstrates her unconditional love in a slightly smothering, but genuinely affectionate way.  She asks if everything is alright, and Chris repeatedly assures her that all is well.  The affect is lovely in showing that the mother is naive and just wants constant reassurance (watch the way she shuffles attentively to her child, following him with palpable worry).            

Mary has an episode where she is hysterical, and having a fit outside in the rain.  She is handcuffed and taken to a psychiatric ward because it is assumed that she is a danger to herself.  She is resistant to medication at first, but complies and dutifully takes her meds - eventually.  Marcia Gay Harden, who you may remember as the painter's wife in Pollock, and who won an Oscar for that brilliant portrayal, shows here a vast understanding of what patients go through when adjusting to the medicine.  The medicine begins to work, Mary is soon taking her it with full cooperation, and she seems more focused and appears to be in   a more stable mood.  When another patient asks her for her paintbrush, she resists with some initial grumpiness, but then lightens up.  She hands the fellow patient a brush, some paint, and a blank canvas.  She says, "Here, go crazy... when you paint it makes the voices go away."  This is an inspiring moment in a generous film.            

Unfortunately, as Mary is recovering those left at home are strained in her absence.  Chris gets into troubles at school when he slugs a kid for calling his mother crazy.  The other kid happens to be the son of John's boss.  This throw John's employment into a state of limbo as his boss expresses doubts about his future.  A construction worker, John has been working hard for twenty years, and this is unsettling news.  Pantoliano (who you remember from the Matrix, Memento, and Bound) conveys the experience of being a blue collar worker in a performance that is different than the   character work that he has done previously - a refreshing turn that distinguishes an already fascinating career.  John begins construction of his own on a sailboat even as Mary is hospitalized.  This is cathartic for everyone while she gets the help she needs.  When fined for building the sailboat in the front yard, John simply takes it out back, and with a beer in hand, chuckles, "Found a loophole!"            

Soon, Mary is doing better, and is allowed to visit the family at home.  The film handles this with warmth and keen observation.  This is a sobering film that envelopes us in the company of characters not unlike ourselves, that we develop a real interest in.   We get to see how a psychiatric condition influences these lives for better or worse.  Hope does seem to be on the horizon.

copyright, P. Kelly, 2008