preppy-3
Story takes place in (I'm guessing) the 1930s in the deep south. Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is an unwed mother with two girls the oldest being Ruthann (Jena Malone). She meets handsome lively Glen (Ron Eldard) and marries him. But Glen has a bad temper and beats Ruthann regularly. Her mother doesn't know it and Glen keeps getting angrier and angrier.VERY disturbing but well-done movie. The actors all fake authentic Southern accents and it captures the era perfectly. The acting is just incredible. Leigh was just letter perfect as the mother. She does love her girls and her husband and is horrified when she realizes what's going on. Eldard was a little one-note in his performance but that was mostly cause the script didn't really explore his character. He was downright terrifying when he loses control a few times. Malone was only 10 when she did this and she was incredible! VERY talented for such a young child and holds her own especially in downright horrific sequence at the end. Even the supporting roles were well-acted with Michael Rooker and Glenne Headly being standouts. Also it's all narrated by Laura Dern. As for the beatings--they're never really shown until the very end. You HEAR them though and that's bad enough. The acting is so good by Malone and Eldard you believe every second of them.One complaint--the movie feels unfinished. It looks like either a lot was cut out of the script or out of the movie. Some scenes come and go quickly and have characters you've never met. Still this is well worth watching...but it is disturbing (as it should be) and powerful.
StrikinglyStunning
I have read this book, Bastard Out Of Carolina by Dorthy Allison, and it was a great book.It was so good, I was interested in watching the movie. It came on Lifetime, and the movie basically covered the book.It's about this girl Anne Boatwright (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who meets this guy Glen Waddell (Ron Eldard). At first, he is this good looking guy who is really nice and wants to be the father of Bone (Jena Malone) and Reese.He asks Reese to call him "Daddy" and she has no problem calling him that. Bone, can't say it for the simple fact that he's not really her dad.He gets angry. This was a man who was all about control. He gets Ruth Anne pregnant, and while she was giving birth, Glen , the two kids, Reese & Bone were in the car. The kids were asleep. Glen wakes Bone up and rapes her in the car. -VERY DISTURBING SCENEIt was too horrible to watch, I had to change the channel. I didn't have the stomach for it.It all about physical abuse, he beats her because Bone was "direspecting him", and Ruth Anne believes Glen over her own daughter Bone.Ruth Anne sends Bone to go and live with Aunt Alma. When no one was in the house with her, Glen rides along, and goes over there. Unfortunately, he rapes her again. Again, I had to change the channel. It was absolutely horrific what he was doing to Bone.The movie is VERY graphic, you see almost everything. I didn't have the stomach to watch all those gruesome parts.I remember watching Sleepers, with Ron Eldard, now, I don't think I can look at him the same. He's good at playing bad guys.It was a good movie. (Although, very disturbing. I' not sure I can watch it again)
BC_Babe
I saw this on Movie Central one cold, Greg day and I have never been able to forget it. Ron Eldard is completely believable in his performance, and will both captivate and horrify you. All the characters in this movie have such a subtlety to them. Houston's directorial debut enhances the performances of these talented actors. You know there is love, of a kind, between the family members. Yet one of the most compelling aspects to this movie is the flat and joyless undertone to the characters. Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh) stands out in her family because she is an emotional firecracker - her emotions are almost a separate character from that of Anney Boatwright. Special mention must go to Jena Malone for her sophisticated, passionate portrayal of Anney's young daughter, 'Bone'. Bone carries the weight of her mother's world on her shoulders. This is her first major role to speak of and she carries the movie effortlessly.
alliesmom97
I saw this on Lifetime a few nights ago. It tells the story of a young girl born to an unwed mother into a family that society would classify as "white trash" who becomes the target of her stepfather's wrath and inappropriate attentions.The story itself is, of course, extremely upsetting. Tales of child abuse always are, and the abuse was pretty violent. It was, however, very well acted. Jena Malone did an awesome job as "Bone", the young victim. Ron Eldard managed to really make you hate him. One minute he is vicious and violent toward Bone, the next he is whining and sobbing pathetically to his wife (her mother) that he can't live without her. Most of the rest of the cast did an pretty good job as well.In spite of being well told and acted, it was in many ways infuriating. Anney, Bone's mother, was willing to let her child be abused or ship her off to relatives rather than kick out the scumbag. And Bone's large extended family was very loving toward her and DID try to provide her with a safe haven when things got bad but one aunt sent her back knowing she was being molested and one refused to tell the sheriff what had happened after the child ended up in the hospital after a beating and rape attempt. Given a choice between an innocent child and their sister (Bone's mother) who was too stupid to dump her loser and abuser husband, they picked their sister. Sad and pathetic. One wonders how many kids in the real world find themselves in Bone's position...at the mercy of adults who don't have the guts to do what is right.
AD
