The budget on this movie was pretty small as an independent film. What saves it is the great actors. The acting was terrific; I gave this movie a seven because of the acting. Most of the sets were fine and the costumes were realistic also. But it struggled with production value, pacing, editing, and how some of the scenes ended and began. That's were a seasoned editor, screenwriter, and director would have helped. There were several rough spots because the screenplay was clearly clunky. A better screenplay would have produced better scene opportunities. Sometimes the dialogue didn't make sense - like when the grandson asks, "What name did she call you before she died?" No one asks that kind of thing. Not even a 1950's kid. The information was not necessary. Some of the scenes were awkward with no lead-in and ended with the viewer wondering why the scene was included since it didn't push the story along nor really show character development. Examples include the teacher being locked in an outhouse for an extended period of time, Austin Sr. talking to the cow-stealing landlord, or the saddle bag being open. A savvy editor and director knows which scenes are irrelevant and gets rid of them. That being said, Bruce Dern, Geneviève Bujold, and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick were wonderful to watch.
10 Reviews
Enjoyable but not remarkable.
CabbageCustard4 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I found this movie on YouTube and had never heard of it before.
That being said, this is quite a good film, although it's nothing we haven't seen before. It follows a basic theme seen in other Hollywood products: a young child is sent to live with relatives he/she has hitherto only met briefly (or not at all) in some back woods American town. The child is usually a bit of a loner/misfit. The relatives also turn out to be slightly eccentric and at least one of them (usually the man) is a bit curmudgeonly and doesn't like kids. The other folk in the town are a mixture of odd characters who provide humor, drama and sometimes friction. A number of low-key adventures ensue, someone important dies (usually) and the child emerges from the movie with a deeper understanding of life and people and the grudging respect of every nut case living within a five kilometre radius. This movie pretty well follows that template.
Acting is good all round. It's nice to see Bruce Dern and Geneviève Bujold as always They bring their characters to life and make them real. Young Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick does a fine job playing the wise-beyond-his-years protagonist Austin Kittredge II.
There is some swearing in this movie, but the incidences are few and far between. On the the copy I watched, some dear soul had gone to the trouble of bleeping out the few 'cuss words' that were spoken so I can't even tell how bad they were or weren't. This anonymous prude has even gone so far as to blank out the speaker's mouth momentarily when a swear word is spoken lest weak-willed, timid-by-nature, easily-corrupted viewers should read the characters lips, discern what the swear word is, and have a major attack of the vapors. I don't know if this was done by the person who posted the video to YouTube, a previous viewer of the movie or, even, the makers of the movie (Heaven forbid!!). Regardless of who did it, this minor bowdlerisation adds nothing to the movie, is just plain annoying, and an insult to adult viewers. If you are the person who did this, and you're reading this now, then all I have to say is PLEASE, don't do it again. We are capable of policing our own morals thank you. Your assistance is not required or helpful.
Whew. Anyway, to sum it up. This is a good movie. I liked it, but its been done before.
That being said, this is quite a good film, although it's nothing we haven't seen before. It follows a basic theme seen in other Hollywood products: a young child is sent to live with relatives he/she has hitherto only met briefly (or not at all) in some back woods American town. The child is usually a bit of a loner/misfit. The relatives also turn out to be slightly eccentric and at least one of them (usually the man) is a bit curmudgeonly and doesn't like kids. The other folk in the town are a mixture of odd characters who provide humor, drama and sometimes friction. A number of low-key adventures ensue, someone important dies (usually) and the child emerges from the movie with a deeper understanding of life and people and the grudging respect of every nut case living within a five kilometre radius. This movie pretty well follows that template.
Acting is good all round. It's nice to see Bruce Dern and Geneviève Bujold as always They bring their characters to life and make them real. Young Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick does a fine job playing the wise-beyond-his-years protagonist Austin Kittredge II.
There is some swearing in this movie, but the incidences are few and far between. On the the copy I watched, some dear soul had gone to the trouble of bleeping out the few 'cuss words' that were spoken so I can't even tell how bad they were or weren't. This anonymous prude has even gone so far as to blank out the speaker's mouth momentarily when a swear word is spoken lest weak-willed, timid-by-nature, easily-corrupted viewers should read the characters lips, discern what the swear word is, and have a major attack of the vapors. I don't know if this was done by the person who posted the video to YouTube, a previous viewer of the movie or, even, the makers of the movie (Heaven forbid!!). Regardless of who did it, this minor bowdlerisation adds nothing to the movie, is just plain annoying, and an insult to adult viewers. If you are the person who did this, and you're reading this now, then all I have to say is PLEASE, don't do it again. We are capable of policing our own morals thank you. Your assistance is not required or helpful.
Whew. Anyway, to sum it up. This is a good movie. I liked it, but its been done before.
boring boring boring
sandcrab2774 February 2021
Snails pace with two aged adults fighting over peanuts ...its a display of over-indulgence to the nth degree ... bruce dern plays the same role in every film he's ever been in ... i was surprised that ms bujold went along with the farce ...this game is not played in the vermont woods but on a hollywood set .... yuk
Good family film, but not for the little ones
vchimpanzee13 June 2017
In Kingdom County, Vermont in 1956, Austin arrives on the train. His grandfather, also named Austin, picks him up in an old truck. It is never made quite clear why young Austin is there, but his grandfather doesn't seem very nice, at first. He describes himself as the meanest (bleep) in Kingdom County. The word is actually used one time but bleeped the rest of the time the expression is used, with the character's mouth blurred. Austin Sr. can actually be quite loving.
Austin's grandmother Abiah is there when they arrive at the house, and she seems nicer. But there are times when she will be the meaner of the two. The house has a phone but no electricity, and Abiah will not have it in her house even though she always having to deal with flies and electricity would make that easier. Austin Sr. is quite conservative as well, so one would think he's the one who doesn't want electricity. But he has a sawmill to run, in addition to his many farm-related duties, so if the power company wants to run a line there, he is all for it regardless of what his wife thinks. He has maple trees for sap, and Gram has an apple orchard. There are also cows and chickens. There's lots of work, and young Austin is expected to do chores even though he doesn't like them. Austin Sr. also expects Austin to go hunting with him, but again Austin doesn't like the idea.
Now why did I say Abiah has an apple orchard? The two are living together but that's about it. They have been in the same house for 50 years and had three children (one wonders how), but young Austin figures out if he wasn't there neither one would say a word to the other. It turns out Austin Sr. was married (not legally, but they considered themselves married) to an Inuit nicknamed Mira because that was short for the English translation of her name. Austin Sr. never got over her death and settled for Abiah. Abiah is obsessed with Egypt, calling Austin "Tut" because he looks like the boy king, and the daughters Nefertiti and Cleopatra have careers Austin Sr. doesn't approve of (but the rest of the world would consider them a success).
Austin Sr. doesn't approve of education because he thinks it will take away from work. He doesn't approve of his son's career as a teacher. Austin's father comes up for visits occasionally, but young Austin stays for a long time and even goes to school, because despite Austin Sr.'s attitude, children have to go to school. There, Austin meets Theresa, whose family is poor, though Theresa seems happy. Austin Sr. doesn't seem to approve of helping the poor, blames the Dubois family for being poor because they're French, and does not see anything good about Adlai Stevenson. Still, he's not as mean as he seems. There's also the bully Hettie.
Later, the grandparents enter the maple festival's syrup contest, competing against each other.
Austin learns a lot about life and family, and responsibility. There are occasional laughs and some tragedy.
This is a family film, if not one appropriate for younger children. It could have easily been a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, because it reminds me a lot of those films. I don't recall any bad language except for that one word that keeps getting repeated and bleeped. There is some minor violence, and a death, and some difficult topics, but it's a film older children could watch. And maybe even some tough younger children.
Bruce Dern gives an Oscar-caliber performance, though I imagine this film didn't get noticed and there could just have been too many equally good performances.
Genevieve Bujold also does quite a good job.
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is good too.
Because of the popcornflix.com logo at the beginning and credits that go on for days with the type information movie credits wouldn't normally have, I believe this was an independent film. That usually means quality, and that's certainly true in this case. I've never seen a film with so much participation by colleges.
It's a worthy effort.
Austin's grandmother Abiah is there when they arrive at the house, and she seems nicer. But there are times when she will be the meaner of the two. The house has a phone but no electricity, and Abiah will not have it in her house even though she always having to deal with flies and electricity would make that easier. Austin Sr. is quite conservative as well, so one would think he's the one who doesn't want electricity. But he has a sawmill to run, in addition to his many farm-related duties, so if the power company wants to run a line there, he is all for it regardless of what his wife thinks. He has maple trees for sap, and Gram has an apple orchard. There are also cows and chickens. There's lots of work, and young Austin is expected to do chores even though he doesn't like them. Austin Sr. also expects Austin to go hunting with him, but again Austin doesn't like the idea.
Now why did I say Abiah has an apple orchard? The two are living together but that's about it. They have been in the same house for 50 years and had three children (one wonders how), but young Austin figures out if he wasn't there neither one would say a word to the other. It turns out Austin Sr. was married (not legally, but they considered themselves married) to an Inuit nicknamed Mira because that was short for the English translation of her name. Austin Sr. never got over her death and settled for Abiah. Abiah is obsessed with Egypt, calling Austin "Tut" because he looks like the boy king, and the daughters Nefertiti and Cleopatra have careers Austin Sr. doesn't approve of (but the rest of the world would consider them a success).
Austin Sr. doesn't approve of education because he thinks it will take away from work. He doesn't approve of his son's career as a teacher. Austin's father comes up for visits occasionally, but young Austin stays for a long time and even goes to school, because despite Austin Sr.'s attitude, children have to go to school. There, Austin meets Theresa, whose family is poor, though Theresa seems happy. Austin Sr. doesn't seem to approve of helping the poor, blames the Dubois family for being poor because they're French, and does not see anything good about Adlai Stevenson. Still, he's not as mean as he seems. There's also the bully Hettie.
Later, the grandparents enter the maple festival's syrup contest, competing against each other.
Austin learns a lot about life and family, and responsibility. There are occasional laughs and some tragedy.
This is a family film, if not one appropriate for younger children. It could have easily been a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, because it reminds me a lot of those films. I don't recall any bad language except for that one word that keeps getting repeated and bleeped. There is some minor violence, and a death, and some difficult topics, but it's a film older children could watch. And maybe even some tough younger children.
Bruce Dern gives an Oscar-caliber performance, though I imagine this film didn't get noticed and there could just have been too many equally good performances.
Genevieve Bujold also does quite a good job.
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is good too.
Because of the popcornflix.com logo at the beginning and credits that go on for days with the type information movie credits wouldn't normally have, I believe this was an independent film. That usually means quality, and that's certainly true in this case. I've never seen a film with so much participation by colleges.
It's a worthy effort.
The beauty of the land hides the ugliness of humanity.
mark.waltz14 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The first thing that I saw when watching this rather bizarre drama is the resemblance of the train station where grandfather Bruce Dern picks up young Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is its resemblance to the one in "Nothing Sacred" where Fredric March encounters his first New Englander, both in rural Vermont, and both communities filled with some real stubborn folks. Dern and wife Genevieve Bujold obviously hate each other but have maintained their vows in spite of mutual resentment. As the young boy gets used to his new surroundings, he finds out all sorts of things with his family, with estranged parents Brent Crawford and Jessica Hecht popping in and out separately, having plenty of secrets of their own, one which could get Hecht into all sorts of legal trouble.
The conflicts between Dern and Bujold leads to some interesting scenes, especially as they take individual interests in their grandson while never speaking to each other. Bujold stares coldly off into the distance on one side of their carriage with Seamus in the center, and Dern on the other, looking straight forward with little emotion. Only once do they seem to be reflecting on any element of happiness, and more often than not spend most of their time together in court waiting for arbitration on cases of which they disagree, including the necessity of electricity for Dern's windmill. Smaller roles includes their two daughters (who have ancient Egyptian related names), Seamus's classmates an equally bizarre schoolteacher who in one scene comes off as a real tyrant, but bullied by a female student who has done all sorts of cruel things to her. Not uninteresting, but more a slice of life character driven drama rather than one with a strong plot.
The conflicts between Dern and Bujold leads to some interesting scenes, especially as they take individual interests in their grandson while never speaking to each other. Bujold stares coldly off into the distance on one side of their carriage with Seamus in the center, and Dern on the other, looking straight forward with little emotion. Only once do they seem to be reflecting on any element of happiness, and more often than not spend most of their time together in court waiting for arbitration on cases of which they disagree, including the necessity of electricity for Dern's windmill. Smaller roles includes their two daughters (who have ancient Egyptian related names), Seamus's classmates an equally bizarre schoolteacher who in one scene comes off as a real tyrant, but bullied by a female student who has done all sorts of cruel things to her. Not uninteresting, but more a slice of life character driven drama rather than one with a strong plot.
Slow paced but Riveting
josephmcpike27 August 2018
Really enjoyable movie. Bruce Dern and Geneve Bujold are outstanding and the boy Austin is great too. There are flaws; the boy is mature beyond his years, the other family characters are underdeveloped and there are scenes that seem pointless. But I was intensely interested in what would happen to the main characters and I found this movie riveting. If you appreciate a thoughtful movie you will like this one.
Nasty & Dark
wruzek16 September 2020
First I am disgusted with the movie industries insistence to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ, often just once. This is obviously some type of anti-Christian strategy. There is nothing good about this movie. Terrible waste of time.
DERN AND BUJOLD AREBPLENTY TO RECOMMEND
dasilentpardner-6503718 January 2023
Bruce Dern and Genevieve Bujold play bickering grandparents who inherit their grandson for an indeterminate amount of time in this film set in the isolated woods of Vermont in the late 1950's. This film is about familial love and misunderstanding. There's little melancholia or anything to feel warm and fuzzy about, but Dern and Bujold help the film rise above its conventions.
Dern might have had an Oscar nod for this film but he had the distinct misfortune for making the film 'Nebraska' (and creating a similar angry character) in the same year (2013). He was Oscar-nominated for 'Nebraska' and not for this film. Bujold has to be one of the most beautiful women in the world and she remains so here (she was 71 when she made this film.) Dern and Bujold, acting champs that they are, work well together creating sparks and they salvage the film overall.
Most of the rest of the characters are underdeveloped (especially the father who drops off his son to the grandparents.) Then, there's the bank robber daughter (I'm not kidding) who, late in the film, hijacks the picture and the story completely. At least the role is played by an actress skilled enough to try to pull off such a weird and basically unbelievable character. Would've loved to see what Tatum O'Neal would've done with it.
The film is slow, so be warned, and the hatefulness between the principles very nearly does the picture in but Dern and Bujold are a wonder to behold and plenty enough to recommend this film. I found myself thinking about it days after seeing it, so that's always a good sign of an indelible if (in this case) sometimes unbelievable story.
Dern might have had an Oscar nod for this film but he had the distinct misfortune for making the film 'Nebraska' (and creating a similar angry character) in the same year (2013). He was Oscar-nominated for 'Nebraska' and not for this film. Bujold has to be one of the most beautiful women in the world and she remains so here (she was 71 when she made this film.) Dern and Bujold, acting champs that they are, work well together creating sparks and they salvage the film overall.
Most of the rest of the characters are underdeveloped (especially the father who drops off his son to the grandparents.) Then, there's the bank robber daughter (I'm not kidding) who, late in the film, hijacks the picture and the story completely. At least the role is played by an actress skilled enough to try to pull off such a weird and basically unbelievable character. Would've loved to see what Tatum O'Neal would've done with it.
The film is slow, so be warned, and the hatefulness between the principles very nearly does the picture in but Dern and Bujold are a wonder to behold and plenty enough to recommend this film. I found myself thinking about it days after seeing it, so that's always a good sign of an indelible if (in this case) sometimes unbelievable story.
Great acting, rotten plot
patrickharman-495254 August 2023
Tedious mash-up of hateful family, and don't expect the movie to redeem itself: it doesn't.
As a snapshot of godless, self-centered people making everyone around them miserable, this movie is spot-on. Blurb claims it's "based on a true story" (aren't they all), but even that is a lie.
The list of colleges and universities that contributed to this waste of 109 minutes of your life can serve as a list of institutions for your children and grandchildren to avoid!
Great actor though he might be, perhaps it would be better for us to avoid Mr. Dern's movies entirely, rather than risk more of this ilk!
As a snapshot of godless, self-centered people making everyone around them miserable, this movie is spot-on. Blurb claims it's "based on a true story" (aren't they all), but even that is a lie.
The list of colleges and universities that contributed to this waste of 109 minutes of your life can serve as a list of institutions for your children and grandchildren to avoid!
Great actor though he might be, perhaps it would be better for us to avoid Mr. Dern's movies entirely, rather than risk more of this ilk!
Hard to find any redeeming qualities
henkat-144969 April 2022
Dull, dark and tedious. I kept waiting for one of the main characters to strike a worthwhile chord, but it never happens. Bruce Dern plays the meanest, self-centered, unloving character I've ever encountered in a movie. Mrs. Kittredge, his wife, is not much better. Stuck in the past( doesn't want electricity or Tv), refusing to speak to her husband, obsessed with bizarre Egyptian artifacts, she calls her grandson Tut. When the grown children visit, it is clear that the family is dysfunctional. There is no humor or laughter. This movie is soul crunching, determined to show that the human spirit has died along with Bruce Dern. Horrible movie- don't waste your time.
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