Movie Reviews for Big Eden

Big Eden

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Movie Reviews of Big Eden

Movie Review: Awesome Film - Incredible Cast - Magnificent
Summary: 5 Stars

Harry is a middle aged, successful artist living in New York City. Harry just happens to be gay and single. He does not have luck in the love department. On the eve of his first big show, he learns that his only living relative - his grandfather - has had a stroke. Harry rushes to his side in the town where Harry grew up - Big Eden. (I don't remember being told where Big Eden is supposed to be, although in the extras the director divulged that it was shot in Montana). Big Eden is an itty bitty town in an absolutely idyllic setting. I am fully prepared to move to that town.

When Harry returns to his hometown, he is informed that the love of his life, Dean, has moved back to town, divorced and with his two sons in tow. Harry is somewhat devastated in that he didn't know that Dean had ever married or had kids. Harry has been burning a torch for Dean for about twenty years. Though the exact nature of their former relationship is never truly defined, we get a good idea of what it must have been - flirtation of youthful men who knew that they dared not cross a line and become physical.

Big Eden (the film) is a fantasy of sorts. It is set in a reality that exists just beyond our true vision - slightly beyond our peripheral. The characters are real and ....not. The town locals who seem to do nothing more than sit in and in front of the local store, are a cast of scruffy male characters without a judgmental or prejudiced bone in their body. Again, the director/writer Bezucha stated that he wanted to portray a life for a gay character where all the hurdles that homosexuals state exist - do not. And if those hurdles were removed, what would the gay man's life be like? Would it be carefree and happy and fulfilled? Probably more to the truth, as this films tells, it would still be rife with heartache and a bevy of other emotions, because in the end, we are all human and our lives are not meant to be simple and carefree - gay or straight.

Arye Gross is really quite believable, if not a bit too doe eyed at times as Harry. Eric Schweig, as "Pike," the Native American owner of the general store is really quite amazing in his portrayal.

What makes this movie truly amazing is that it doesn't answer the questions you want answered in a simple or laid out way. You have to glean from your own perspective some of the answers. It's an intelligent film with a heartwarming center and covered up in really excellent actors, who, sadly, you may or may not have ever heard of, but will surely recognize as you watch this film.

I am very thankful for a film about a middle aged gay man going through the same sort of "relationship" or "emotional" issues that I am at roughly the same age as me. I really enjoy the "coming of age" and "coming out" films that are currently out there, but I've long since passed that time of my life. I needed a film that addresses me as a middle aged gay man - without the hovering doom of AIDS as a component - and "Big Eden" is almost perfect in that respect. I have been, for some time, contemplating moving to a small town in New England or in the West - someplace where I could get to know my neighbors and become a part of the community - a community of real friends.

Ultimately, I think that is what "Big Eden" espouses. With a community of real, trusted, loving, and caring friends, you can't go wrong. Those friends don't neccessarily have to be of the same sexual orientation, gender, race, sex or political affiliation in order for you to be loving and loved.

You really have to watch this film. If there ever were a life affirming film of homosexuality past the age of 40, then this is it!

Movie Review: A delightful fairy tale - no pun intended.
Summary: 5 Stars

The result is an hilarious send-up of small town America, a paradise in which the good old boys who loiter at the general store all day squabble over whose turn it is to make the cappuchino and their different readings of the moves the gays are putting on each other. Every time you think the homophobic sh-t is going to hit the fan, it doesn't. If you're like me, this topsy-turvy state of affairs will have you rolling on the floor laughing your head off at times and bawling your eyes out at others. If the real world were like this, I'd go thru my days giggling non-stop.

The supporting cast is excellent, particularly George Coe as Sam, the dying grandfather, Louise Fletcher as Grace, an aptly named character, and O'Neal Compton as Jim Soams, the solicitous if not too perceptive leader of the bucolic gang down to the general store, perfectly cast against type (you'd expect to see him as a bigoted Southern sheriff). The scene in which Soams tries to find a way to ask Pike if he is 'one of them' is hilarious.

The principals are unfortunately somewhat less interesting than the supporting cast. Arye Gross as Henry Hart is such a distant character throughout most of the film, it's difficult to care much whether he finds love. Eric Schweig as Pike Dexter is also cast against type, though less successfully than Compton; he has an imposing physical presence and is good at glowering, staring at the floor and running from the room, but the character is too much of a caricature; we get to know him more from what others say of him than what he shares of himself. Tim DeKay as Dean is perhaps the least likeable character in a film in which it's hard to find someone not to like. Henry's high school crush, Dean has held on to his school-boy good looks and is newly divorced. Throughout the film he waffles over whether to get a new set of his-n-hers towels, or his-n-his. He provides a little tension in a love story which nevertheless remains not very interesting. Henry is clearly too hurt by what happened in the past to renew the love.

But the real core of the film is not the love story, which is not only not very captivating but also wrapped up a bit to easily at the end, but the themes of 'coming home to who you are' and 'being known.' Just days before he dies, Sam calls Henry to sit beside him on the sofa and complains 'you won't tell me who you are,' and 'I can't help thinking your grandma and I didn't do right by you some how' because of Henry's resistance to being known and accepting the love of the townsfolk. Henry doesn't get it, though, until it's too late.

These are the real discoveries Henry makes by returning home to Big Eden.

The soundtrack is excellent: simple, classic country songs, only a couple of which I could identify without watching the credits closely, which perfectly speak to the complexities which bedevil most lives. The setting of the film is, of course, magnificent.

I give Big Eden 5 Stars in the ratings system, though I would prefer to give it 4.5, downgrading it only for the lack of a more interesting, better told love story. Still, it is an excellent and very entertaining film and I highly recommend it.

Movie Review: What a quiet stunning little masterpiece of film....
Summary: 5 Stars

Movie Review: Big Eden - a touching gay romance with heart and soul!
Summary: 5 Stars

The story revolves around Henry Hart. He's a transplanted New Yorker - an artist on the verge of major success in the big city. As he readies for his big gallery show, a call comes from his hometown. His grandfather, the man who raised Henry after the death of his parents, has had a stroke. Henry, despite the protests of his friend/agent, hops the first plane back to Montana, and quickly becomes thrust back into the lives of the small community he had left years before.

As he integrates back into the Big Eden community, Henry has to cope with helping his grandfather adjust to his medical condition, as well as dealing with the curiosity and interference of the well-meaning locals. The standout is the Widow Thayer, who is enlisted to do the cooking for Henry and his grandfather, but who takes it upon herself to play matchmaker for Henry.

Henry's most-anticipated reunion is with Dean, his best friend from high school, and not-so-secret crush. Dean has also recently returned to town following his divorce, and is very happy to rekindle his friendship with Henry. Other familiar faces from Henry's past include Anna, the mayor of the town, and Pike, the painfully shy, enigmatic owner of the general store.

As Henry and Dean begin to re-explore their relationship, another potential romantic partner surfaces, and the whole town becomes aware of the situation. Rather than exploding with intolerance and homophobia, the townsfolk become conspirators and cheerleaders for everyone to wind up in happy relationships, regardless of orientation.

Much of the criticism of this film involves the unlikelihood that small-town America would be as open-minded and supportive as the members of the Big Eden community when it comes to the issue of same-sex relationships. This would be a valid point in a documentary, but Big Eden is a fictional location. It should not be any more difficult to accept this dramatic convention than it is to accept that Dorothy can visit Oz after a bump on the head, or that Julia Roberts can be rescued from a life of prostitution by a mogul who looks like Richard Gere.

Big Eden is the type of wonderful surprise that keeps me returning to the Outfest film festival year after year. Many of the movies I see there are formulaic and forgettable, but every now and then a fresh new perspective pops up on screen, and reminds me of how an enjoyable film can create a world filled with characters and relationships that entertain, and stay with you. This was my reaction to Big Eden, as well as many other audience members at Outfest, judging from our conversations afterwards.

If your idea of the perfect gay film involves near-naked gym bunnies looking for their next sex partner or drug high, do yourself a favor and skip Big Eden. If, however, you are interested in adult stories that explore the complex emotions that guide (and sometimes misguide) human relationships, you'll be in for a treat when you enter the world of Big Eden.

Movie Review: A Gay-Themed Movie to Watch!
Summary: 5 Stars