BLOSSOM TIME
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Sometimes being a critic is hard. I saw BLOSSOM TIME at San Jose's Cinequest film festival. As much as I wanted and expected to like the picture, I didn't. When it is some expensive Hollywood production, I have no problem in writing a derogatory review. With a nice director like David Orr, it is hard. He stayed after the film to answer our questions, and he is easy gentleman to like.
Orr's film, however, was anything but easy to watch. I came away convinced that he is a better actor than a director, and that, if he does direct another movie, he should hire someone else to do the casting.
His lead, Laurel Holloman (PREFONTAINE and THE INCREDIBLE TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE) as Francis, showed promise as did Orr himself as the stranger Dwight. The problem in the show was in the casting of Greg Farnese as Francis's older brother Hank and Daniel Gavin (TRUE ROMANCE) as her younger brother Billie Paul.
In the press kit, Orr says the film is a "homage to the great American playwright Tennessee Williams and was shot in the small Mississippi town where Tennessee was born." Farnese and Gavin play Southern mumblers which make them mysterious, I suppose, but also make them almost incomprehensible. I speak fluent Southern. If I have trouble, then I am sure others will be even more confused.
"The Lord teaches us to be happy with what we got, but sometimes it doesn't seem like enough," says Francis in the film's opening sequence. She lives with her two brothers, and she has played the role of the family's mother ever since their parents died. Francis cooks and cleans for her brothers, but they do not seem to appreciate it very much. Francis isn't very happy with the arrangement either and wants more out of her life. One day her friend Amy brings over her cousin Dwight to meet Francis.
A typical subplot, which doesn't work, involves two men who deliver milk door-to-door. They get in an argument on Francis's front porch about whether one of them has been stealing sips of milk from their customers. They end up both deciding to quit their jobs immediately. The scene ends up being neither particularly funny nor credible.
The dialog is full of Southern cliches. Typical is when Francis explains, "There ain't nothin' wrong with me." The show is populated by many people that fit the typical movie stereotype of Southerners with dramatically lower IQs than the rest of the nation.
There are some surprises along the way, but the script by Anthony Gavin is quite weak. I wish I had more positive things to say about the picture, but I do not. Well, at least there are two good actors in the show, Holloman and Orr.
BLOSSOM TIME runs 1:47. It is not rated. I cannot recommend the film. I give it * 1/2 for the two decent performances in it.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: February 2, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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