Bonneville an adventure that three middle age women (Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Joan Allen) embark on when one of their husbands, Joe, dies suddenly. Conflict arises when the daughter (Christine Baranski), by a previous marriage, of the deceased decides she wants to bury him near the family (the daughter's family) home in Santa Barbara. Arvilla (Jessica Lange), the 2cd wife of twenty years must deliver the ashes or risk loosing the house in Idaho that she shared with Joe. Joe specifically requested that his ashes be spread in nature but his daughter does not want to acknowledge the other life he built in Idaho and uses the Idaho homestead as leverage to get Arvilla to hand over the ashes. Lange and posse (Kathy Bates as Margene and Joan Allen as Carol) start a 'Thelma & Louise' style trip in an early-70's Pontiac Bonneville convertible. The movie points out that the three friends are Mormon but the religion of the deceased husband is not discussed. Margene is looking for a autumn romance, and Carol is wound up tight and very devout. All while Arvilla is just trying to cope with the sudden death of the man she loves. Will the three heroines find their way to happiness or contentment? Undoubt-ably. The movie is definitely enjoyable but drags in the center (bathroom break). Never actually seeing Arvilla and Joe together, I never got a feeling of how deep their love was. The Film originally slated for a 2006 released was re-worked for 2007. Since this was an early preview of the re-work things can still change.
Review of Bonneville
