SPRING FORWARD --------------
When ex-con Paul (Liev Schrieber, "A Walk on the Moon") begins work as a municipal parks worker, he's full of self doubt. He's partnered with the much older Murphy (Ned Beatty, "Cookie's Fortune"), a most unconventional blue collar worker. Over the course of a year and the change of the seasons, a deep and moving friendship will form between the two men in writer/director Tom Gilroy's feature film debut "Spring Forward."
Paul and Murphy begin to bond when the uppity son of a gardening supply store (Campbell Scott, "Big Night," perfectly capturing the unctuous manner of a man born to wealth unused to being challenged) tries to manipulate them into shovelling the manure his father's donated to the city. Paul, emboldened by Murph's refusal to back down to Frederickson, calls Frederickson a vicious name and is rebuked by Murph for his language. Frederickson claims Murphy's reaction is because the term could be applied to Murphy's son, a gay man. Paul is devastated that he's caused Murphy hurt.
"Spring Forward" progresses through six additional, real time scenes each punctuated by a seasonal interlude in the author's home town of Ridgefield, Connecticutt. Paul and Murph discuss religion and get high. Murph takes Paul to a house where there are puppies for sale by a woman who might need companionship as much as Paul does ('Frasier's' Peri Gilpin). Murph tells Paul about the hurt caused by a lifelong neighbor who refused to stand up for his son, then the two meet that same neighbor (Bill Raymond) at Murph's son's wake. The two find a hysterical woman and her terrified daughter by the side of the road.
"Spring Forward" is above all an actors' showcase, particularly for Beatty and Schreiber who are simply sublime together. Beatty's Murph looks like a blue collar everyman on the verge of retirement, but has an unexpectedly sensitive soul and Beatty never once makes us doubt this unconventional package. Schreiber's Paul has more beneath the surface than one would expect, having substituted voracious reading for institutional education. He too, seems like a potential redneck who's instead opened his mind beyond where his background should have led him. Their verbal sparring and generational gap give the film a gentle humor.
Gilroy has provided these character riffs in his writing. Murph has a habit of making bakery allegories rather than use foul language ('I'd have been frosted too,' 'He's got a cupcake mentality'). Paul expounds on Asian spiritual concepts, and, just when he thinks he's flown over Murph's head, Murph sums up his ideas with a simple cliche - the concept of karma is translated into 'What goes around, comes around.'
Gilroy's playwright background is stamped all over his film debut to its detriment, however. Gilroy's decision to film over the course of a year was a plus for the actors, allowing them to form their bond gradually. Yet, every moment is jam packed with a philosophical or heavy moment, never giving his characters a chance to breath or his film to form more naturally.
Director of photography Terry Stacey captures the beauty of his locations, a rural New England utopia. Composer Hahn Rowe's score features a folky, yet plaintive fiddle, accentuating the film's bittersweetness.
C+
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
laura@reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews