Film
Critic Notebook: Random
Screenings: A Modified Preview of 2007, Woodstock Film Festival
by
Jay Blotcher
...Morgen
wrangles the unwieldy, epic story and lets it unspool at a breathtaking
pace while avoiding mawkishness or histrionics. Required viewing
for the next generation of Americans.
CAHIERS
DE WOODSTOCK SCORE (UNAPOLOGETIC FILM SNOB RATING): 9 out of 10
THE CAKE EATERS (Director: Mary Stuart Masterson) THE PITCH: In
a sleepy upstate town (that looks remarkably like Catskill in Greene
County); a failed rock singer comes home to mourn his mother’s
death. He must also make his peace with his father and his younger
brother whom he abandoned. We ultimately learn that everybody has
their secrets, their clumsy gropings at happily-ever-after, and
the need to forgive themselves for trespasses real and imagined.
LOCAL
ANGLE: Michele Baker was Location Manager for The Cake Eaters. She
had previously worked on the lugubrious The Night Listener, starring
Robin Williams and Toni Colette, also shot in this area. Director
Mary Stuart Masterson (yep, former Brat Pack actress), originally
wanted to shoot closer to Manhattan. Baker explains in an e-mail
interview: “I was the one that led Mary Stuart to Greene County
and the Village of Catskill specifically. Mary Stuart has a part-time
residence in Columbia County so she was familiar with the region
and was open to exploring it.” (Lead actor Jayce Bartok, who
was also the screenwriter, had originally scripted the film to take
place in Pennsylvania.)
BACKSTORY:
Masterson cast two screen veterans who wipe up the floor with the
rest of the cast. They are Bruce Dern (required viewing: Coming
Home, Smile and The Cowboys, the latter in which he offs John Wayne)...
CONTINUE...
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