I have two strong candidates for you today. You might want to see both of them.
The first is Promised Land (2012, Rated R, Available on DVD).
Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and his colleague Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand) arrive in a small town as representatives of a company that wants to buy drilling rights for natural gas. At first, they're welcomed. The economy is bad, and people need the money. But then questions and concerns arise from former teacher Frank Yates (Hal Holbrook) and the leader of a grassroots campaign against fracking, Dustin Noble (John Krasinski).
This movie isn't brilliant, but it's interesting and worth watching to see how certain characters evolve. The conclusion has a twist that I didn't see coming. Damon, McDormand, and Krasinski are almost always worth watching. In fact, Damon and Krasinski wrote the screenplay, along with Dave Eggers. Gus Van Sant directed.
I wouldn't watch this movie with young children since it's rated R, but teenagers might learn something from it. I don't know if they'd be interested, though.
Promised Land earns The Janie Junebug Seal of Approval.
And now we have a somewhat older movie: Feast of Love (2007, Rated R, Available on DVD).
Directed by the great Robert Benton, Feast of Love explores those small, intimate moments when we fall in and out of love. Bradley Smith (Greg Kinnear) owns a coffee shop in a small Oregon town where some of the characters meet, and where former professor Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) likes to hang out, sometimes dispensing advice.
Bradley has difficulty finding the right woman. Bradley employs young Oscar (Toby Hemingway), who falls in love at first sight with Chloe (Alexa Davalos). Oscar and Chloe dream of a bright future together. One woman falls in love with another woman, and yet another woman loves a married man. When Harry goes home, he mourns the death of their son with his wife, Esther (the beautiful and dignified Jane Alexander).
I had never heard of this movie until Netflix told me I would probably like it. And I didn't like it. I loved it. Feast of Love has that sweet, magical touch that can only be found with the mystery of love as the central topic and Morgan Freeman as a central character. One might think that all the characters revolve around Bradley because he owns the coffee shop, but Morgan Freeman is the sun against whom everything rises and sets.
This movie is not for children. It has some pretty graphic sex scenes and nudity. Also, Oscar's father is violent and filled with hatred. You have to decide if it's okay for older teens to watch.
I admit that the conclusion of this movie might have left me with a tear in my eye. It could have been an eyelash. I'm not admitting to definite tears, but if there were tears, it was only one or two.
Feast of Love earns The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.
Happy Viewing!
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
The plot outlines of both of these JJ endorsed movies interest me, Janie Junebug, and I like some of these actors, too. I have appreciated the work of Frances McDormand ever since Fargo and applaud Krasinski for all he's done since we got to know him as Pam's special guy on The Office. Greg Kinnear has shined in several romantic comedies and dramas over the years and I always enjoy his acting style. Did you watch or record his new Fox lawyer series Rake?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reviews, dear Janie, and have a safe and happy weekend!
I like Greg Kinnear a lot. I didn't know he was in a series. I can't make a commitment to any TV shows other than the ones I watch on PBS.
DeleteI'm not sure about the first movie, but the second definitely sounds like something I would enjoy. We watched a terrific movie last week... "The Butler". I wasn't terribly impressed with the actors selected to play the various presidents, (Robin Williams as Eisenhower???) but I LOVED the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the knock up alongside the head about the screw-up on my post. Of COURSE Barbara Hutton was the heiress... BETTY was the actress. (duh!) I fixed it.
Happy weekend!
I wrote an email to a friend a few minutes ago, telling her I watched The Butler. I said the exact same thing about Robin Williams. The Hutton thing confused me. I knew there was an actress by that name, but I couldn't think of Betty. Barbara Hutton was a very strange person.
DeleteWe've got fracking all around us, so it looks like this is one we need to see. And on a cold (really cold) weekend, some interesting movies will be just the ticket.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll enjoy these, Shelly.
DeleteI thought Promised Land rather mediocre until the ending, which redeemed the entire picture.
ReplyDeleteYes. The end is good.
Delete"The Man in Black" from "Lost" is in the first movie. Were you a fan of "Lost?" I'm always unsure of where to put my punctuation with regards to quotation marks.
ReplyDeleteI never saw Lost, but I read on IMDB that they worked in the word lost for his character. I think I'd put the question mark outside the quotation marks, but I don't think it's very important.
DeleteBoth movies sound good! Thanks for the reviews!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beth. Stay warm.
ReplyDeleteI liked both of these--yes!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't watch Rake (Kinnear's new series) because it was on FOX which doesn't come in well for me over the old airways. I'll have to wait and see if it sticks around and ends up on Netflix, because I like him as an actor. :)
I like Greg Kinnear a lot.
DeleteOh, I love movie reviews and recommendations. I haven't seen either one of these but I do like Matt Damon AND Morgan Freeman. Reading the comments above, I'm astounded that you never saw Lost. We were glued to it for every season. I often think I'd like to watch it all over again, but it took too much concentration. I don't think I'm up for it.
ReplyDeleteI seldom make a commitment to watching a TV series, and I heard so much about how complicated Lost was that I never gave it a try. The Hurricane might have watched it online, but I'm not sure.
DeleteJust please tell me the nude scenes or graphic sex involves either Greg Kinnear nor Morgan Freeman. I haven't heard of either of these, and I'm a Dave Eggers fan so I should have been on board with Promised Land. Good ones.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember Morgan Freeman or Greg Kinnear removing their clothes. Some good looking women got naked. I guess a couple of men did, too, but I don't think I saw much. I'm not that interested in naked men, but a good looking naked woman is a work of art and I don't mean that in a lesbianish way. Promised Land isn't Dave Eggers' greatest work, but as I said, it's a solid movie. Have you seen Away We Go? Dave Eggers wrote that and I loved it.
DeleteI shall definitely keep my eye out for this one. Excellent cast.
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned the film - Feast of Love. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI love an exploration of love that isn't a formulaic rom-com.
DeleteI might check out Feast of Love. I really like Morgan Freeman. He was a fantastic president of South Africa (just KIDDING!).
ReplyDeletePromised Land just sounds too preachy to me. But, until I see it....
Hal Holbrook is pretty earnest. Every time I see him, I think, Didn't he die a few years ago? But he always pops up again.
DeleteI am such a tom boy. Do you know how long it's been since I've watched a girly movie? Like FOREVER. And I think the last one was picked out by my hubby. *shrugs* I guess I just don't make that much time to watch movies, but it's that stage of life, right? Young kids, home schooling all 3, publishing books, community service... Okay, I'm going to stop now. I'm over whelming myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't home school, but I certainly remember the days of children at home and a million things going on. Before you know it, it will all go up in a puff of smoke. Unless someone makes you a grandma, which my children refuse to do for me.
DeleteI enjoyed promised land. It certainly wasn't a movie you would run to tell someone about, but the cast was great and it had an even subtle tone throughout that I really enjoyed after a stressful week.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it. You're right about the subtle tone. It was about a pretty serious issue, but they didn't get all worked up and crazy.
Deletelove this part if the sentence - "...but Morgan Freeman is the sun against whom everything rises and sets."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peaches. I think Morgan Freeman is an amazing actor.
DeleteMorgan Freeman is one of my absolute favorite actors to watch. He is brilliant in everything I've ever seen him in. Gotta get this one.
ReplyDelete-andi
Morgan Freeman and Jane Alexander are beautiful together in Feast of Love.
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