★ 7 / 10
> The truth always finds its way out
Reno
> The truth always finds its way out. The Majority of us don't even this movie is exist. Because they never promoted it and it never theatrically released. But…
> The truth always finds its way out.
The Majority of us don't even this movie is exist. Because they never promoted it and it never theatrically released. But I came across and accidentally found it, then I decided to give it a try like my usual support for the unnoticed flicks. In fact, the movie surprised me, the story was so much better than I thought, I mean awesome. But the movie had its own defects which lets it down. From the director of 'Wild Things', another decent suspense-thriller after almost 15 years.
Facially I recognised some of the actors, but did not know their names, except Michael Shannon. This story is set in a rural town, and most of the scenes were shot in an isolated house and its surroundings. A young girl Maryann, who moved to live with her grandparents after her parents' death, befriends a lonely, very sick boy Andy who has always been in the bed all his life. After a while it becomes a secret relationship once the boy's mother forbids seeing each other due to the severeness of the ill. But only until the secret comes out which leads the boy in jeopardy. So what follows is the double twist, one after another and a fitting conclusion.
> "What's the difference between god and a doctor?
> God doesn't think he's a doctor."
Felt like I got a very good thriller here, but I extremely disappointed with the performances. To me the actings were the worst part in the entire film, along with a few scenes that I didn't like. Like I said, no doubt about the storyline, one of the best in the recent times, but the screenplay was utterly stupid in a few parts. Those should have been improvised for a better outcome. Especially I can't take it the way the girl for the first time meets the boy. The situation, the development, all were so silly, but somehow they had to come together where the rest of the story builds.
I know I'm kind of criticising it and I'm not intensely doing that. If it was a television movie, hundreds of excuses can be given, but it was not. Initially I expected it to be a creepy flick with haunting stuffs, but soon after I realised it was another kind of horror which I call them a terror-horror (uninvolvement of ghost, spirit, zombie, et cetera, but the human who creates a terrifying atmosphere). The opening was very unusual, but comes to the point very quickly. From introducing the characters to developing the story, it took time as it is not a short movie.
I never got bored, it kept me awake till the end credit. Storywise, I enjoyed it. If it was corrected all the flawed areas as I mentioned, would have been eased to accept the film by everyone. I feel it is worth suggesting, but not to everybody. If you are looking for a mystery film, then you could try it. Despite whatever I said negatively about it, I still can't able to hate it completely. Obviously it is underrated, it deserves to be praised from the one angle. In another I can't pretend like I don't see the flaws. If somebody is going to remake it in 20-30 years later from now, I'll be old and I expect them to emend the mistakes this one made.
7/10
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★ 7 / 10
A Sense of Place, a Return to Form
jzappa
I am always more compelled when a story unfolds in an implicit fashion, as when John McNaughton's first feature film since 2001, The Harvest, opens on an…
I am always more compelled when a story unfolds in an implicit fashion, as when John McNaughton's first feature film since 2001, The Harvest, opens on an incident that is not fully elucidated until several subsequent scenes contrast it with their own stakes and dimensions. We are kept in an ongoing state of anticipation by a patiently, implicitly unfolding story. Most movies feel more of a need to hit an overt, straightforward formula of beats, but what seasoned, patient filmmakers like John McNaughton are willing to hold out for is a contained, clear-cut storytelling style that slow-burns through on the way to pure and constant surprises.
Certain aspects of McNaughton's technique deliberately old-fashioned, and however that befits your tastes, it is that unhurried confidence that allows acutely poignant relationships to pop. There is something refreshingly and uncomfortably profound about the way the fearfully unpredictable Samantha Morton, as the mother of wheelchair-bound Andy, undermines his father, played with tangible vulnerability by gifted Steppenwolf alum Michael Shannon, her fears pushing her to antagonize those nearest and dearest, lashing out with keen cruelty to deflect her vulnerability, and tragically poisoning the already precarious atmosphere around her.
The Harvest, it should be made abundantly clear, is an acutely Midwestern film. You can feel it in its sentiment, in its traditional form, and in its piercing portrayal of awkward lulls and that apple pie sense of manners and politeness. Its center aim is on families and upbringing, and more specifically on the crippling feeling of being sheltered and living in a bubble. And as it unfolds into more psychotic territory, the more adult terror of being alone rears its ugly, ruining head.
Every viewer who grew up in Middle America had friends whose parents they despised. And we all remember the seemingly mortal fear of getting in trouble. The discomfort and suffering in this movie are palpable, owing to the powerfully subtle performances, the delicate direction and the knowing script, but also owing to its powerful sense of place. And when things take a harrowing turn, we're so engrossed that the tension never stops. And even at its most "sensational," it always keeps its feet on the ground dramatically.
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