Canvas
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Movie Reviews of Canvas
Movie Review: Coping with Madness
Summary: 4 Stars
CANVAS is an autobiographical story by writer/director Joseph Greco and knowing that fact helps to forgive some of the weaknesses of the film. The story - how a family copes with the presence of paranoid schizophrenia and survives - comes from the heart and is as frank a film about the subject of mental illness as any out there. And for all the inherent tendencies to play it as a soap opera, the overriding effect is one of sharing lives challenged by the presence of a crushing disease.
Mary Marino (Marcia Gay Harden) has been afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia for nearly two years and her disease has affected her marriage to her working husband John (Joe Pantoliano in his best role to date) and her eleven year old son Chris (Devon Gearhart): John misses work to care for Mary and still pay for her mounting hospitalization and medical bills and Chris suffers abuse form his mocking school friends, frequently having to explain away his mother's erratic behavior. Mary paints (therapy) the same scene repeatedly, hears voices, and finally refuses to stay on her meds, a fact that results in her long-term hospitalization in a Psychiatric Hospital. John and Chris continue to love Mary despite the radical changes in their lives and each finds a means of coping: John goes on sick leave to build a sailboat for his wife and son in his backyard (he and Mary met and fell in love on a sailboat), and Chris takes up one of Mary's hobbies - sewing patches on shirts - and finds an audience and acceptance and income at his school. How the father and son survive and conquer their challenge presented by the mental illness of Mary serves to provide the ending to this story.
Each of the actors is excellent, especially Pantoliano. Harden is a solid actress but the script fails to capture the essence of her response to her disease. The film feels disjointed and inconsistent and has holes of undeveloped subplots and lines of thought that keep the movie grounded. But knowing that the story is true encourages the viewer to forgive the flaws and appreciate the tough subject matter that should help every viewer to better understand the effect of mental illness on a family. Grady Harp, February 08
Movie Review: from the perspective of someone who is living with a mental illness
Summary: 4 Stars
As a person living successfully with a mental illness I would like to recommend the movie Canvas. This movie highlights "a family" who is struggling in many ways with schizophrenia. As with many families living with a mental illness financial woes seem to be a theme throughout the movie forcing family members to get creative with paying their bills as a family member becomes hospitalized due to their symptoms of schizophrenia becoming unmanageable. Canvas shows the differentiation of personalities dealing with the menagerie of social viewpoints towards mental illness. Despite the pressures of living with a family member who is diagnosed with schizophrenia Canvas demonstrates that families dealing with schizophrenia can maintain love and respect for one another as exemplified by the way family members respond to each other with compassion through individual struggles. Canvas demonstrates how the individual and their family who both live with schizophrenia can find hope in recovery through real life trials. The family depicted in the movie Canvas would not accept defeat but chose to wrap themselves into the moment and let the hurt and joy flow like the wind flows into a canvas sail with a marvelous result. I would give this a **** rating.Movie Review: "Canvas" - a look at the lives of a family in turmoil.
Summary: 4 Stars
Mary (Marcia Gay Harden), seeming to be more eccentric than schizophrenic, is a happy person when she does not have her episodes where she hears voices, and believes that they are in danger and that the house is wired hence her paranoia. Her husband (Joe Pantoliano) looks after their young son when Mary is forcibly taken to a mental institution. As with many schizophrenics, they stop taking their medication when they feel well, and then they go downhill again. She eventually realizes that she needs to take her medication. She is close to her son, and very protective, to the point where it is embarrassing for him. The movie gives one a look into this family home, and you realize that there is a togetherness not found in many homes where all the family members are so called "normal". A very touching story.Movie Review: Let's break the stigma
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie was very tastefully done on the subject of mental illness. It's heart wrenching to see what mental illness does to families, especially the children. I was a little disappointed in the quality of the video. I had to turn the volume way up to hear it very well. This movie should be viewed by everyone who is dealing with these issues and everyone who isn't.Movie Review: canvas dvd
Summary: 4 Stars
The movie was sad but educational. I wish they showed more symptoms of the disorder instead of a just a little bit.