Canvas
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Movie Reviews of Canvas
Movie Review: Wonderful performances, absorbing story.
Summary: 5 Stars
I almost didn't see this film. I just tuned it in on Cablevision Movies on Demand. Oscar winner (for "Pollock") Marcia Gay Harden gives a bravura performance as Mary, the wife and mother who had suffered a psychotic break about 18 months before this story begins, and whose denial that she needs continuing medical help has begun to
lead her once again into bizarre behavior and paranoid delusions, to the extent that she's finally removed from her home by the local police, who have been there many times before. But Harden's portrayal is so nuanced that we can see the loving wife and mother and the scared person inside. As Mary's frustrated, but fiercly protective and loving husband John, Joey Pantoliano is first-rate. I know I've seen him in a lot of other things, but this was the film that made me realize exactly how good he is.
But Mary's illness is only part of the story. When she's hospitalized (and in the scene where John and son Chris first go to the psychiatric ward to see a heavily sedated Mary, Harden is heartbreaking), a new relationship has to be forged between Chris, who has been taunted at school about his "crazy" parents, and John, who is seriously worried about being able to pay Mary's mounting medical bills.
To me, this film is less about schizophrenia as it is about family and love, and the human connections that redeem us no matter what's happening on the outside. There is a lot of love in this film.
If you haven't seen Canvas, you should.
EDIT: There should be a soundtrack for this film, but I haven't been able to find it. Joel Goodman's score is worth hearing, and there are a couple of gorgeous songs sung by Lisbeth Scott.
Movie Review: A Great Small Film
Summary: 5 Stars
I discovered this little gem when led to it due to other purchases in a
similar vein. This is a story based on the directors experiences as a
boy growing up in a home with a schizophrenic mother. He also wrote the
screenplay over a ten year period, and it is his first full length film.
(I watched the directors commentary after viewing the film 5 times over
a 6 week period. The cast is excellent all around, especially the father,
Joe Pantoliano, who is trying to cope with his wife's illness, the high
medical bills, and his son's anxiety about his mother and the social
pressures he has to endure from peers, particularly his father's boss'
son, who he eventually beats up, costing his father his job. The point
of the film is how the father and son cope and eventually come to terms
with the mother's illness.
The son, 11, played by Devon Gearhart, gives an incredibly nuanced per-
formance for a child actor. The film is largely seen through his eyes,
and he is so real and normal, it seems at times like a documentary. The
cinematography is beautiful, mostly filmed in Hollywood, Florida. The
music is wonderful (wish there was a CD), and despite the heavy subject
matter, there is much humor and good happy moments to balance it out.
This movie deserves a much larger audience. It won many audience awards
at film festivals in 2006. I own about 300 DVD's, and as "little" films
go, this has become my all-time favorite. Do yourself a favor and rent
it, or better yet, buy it. I'm betting you won't be sorry.
Movie Review: Authentic Portrayal of a Child with a Schizophrenic Parent
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit that it was hard for me to watch this movie. A little seven-year-old girl somehow found our family many years ago. When we learned that her mom suffered from schizophrenia we told her that whenever her mom was off her medicine, and she didn't make a meal, this little girl should come to our house and we'd feed her. Over the years, she also slept at our house many times. Her last day of high school she ate breakfast with our kids and said she was really going to miss those times as part of our family. [She, now successful in her work, still is an important part of our family over a decade later.] As I watched this movie, it was like watching our unofficial daughter's experience all over again.
I don't think I need to say more about the authenticity of this movie. I just wish we'd had this movie when this little girl was still ten. It would have helped two ways: it would have helped her to know that other kids had to deal with the same kind of mother as she, and it would have helped her to open up to us in healthy ways so we could counsel her in ways to cope. It is extremely difficult for a child to know they should (and do) love a mother that acts irrationally. Every child who has a schizophrenic parent should see this movie; all the better if he or she sees it with an adult who is capable of counseling the child.
Movie Review: Worth your time
Summary: 5 Stars
'Canvas' is the most realistic film I've ever seen of what it's like for a family member to battle schizophrenia. Some parts were difficult to watch because they so realistically show what my loved-one goes through and how helpless one can feel regarding this illness.
The movie 'Beautiful Mind' allows you to step into the mind of a person battling schizophrenia. 'Canvas' was more like stepping into a family dealing with this illness.
Thankfully,along with the gutt-wrenching moments, the movie also shows that there can be good days during this struggle. The husband is shown having enormous love and patience for his wife. The film also shows that though the wife is struggling with this illness, she truly loves her husband and son. They each have hobbies that bring them pleasure and are a way of coping...painting,sailing,having friends. With these pleasant times portrayed and the music in the film, you will not only get to look in the window of a family dealing with mental illness,but you will be able to do it with some moments of smiling.
Movie Review: realistic and compassionate
Summary: 5 Stars
This film, based on a true story, shows a boy and his father coping with the loss of his mother to a severe mental illness. Although it is a devastating blow to them both, they find new hope and rediscover each other while working together to build a sailboat for her. The film deals realistically with the challenges of having a mentally ill family member, and how it affects their lives in the community, at school and at work as well as themselves. This winner is Joe Pantoliano's best work to date.