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Reviews
The Astronaut Farmer (2006)
a feel-good family film with the Polish touch
David Lynch had his Straight Story. This isn't torn from the pages of a newspaper, but it has a similar feel -- the Polish brothers taking their wonderfully quirky, slightly twisted, somewhat dark, always creative vision to a classic Capra-type story. One of those it-can't-happen-in-real-life but you really want to believe it, particularly because the family feels very real. The cast led by Billy Bob Thornton. Patricia Madsen and a host of indie favorites, also including the Polish brothers' real life daughters, is terrific. Perfect cameo touch by Bruce Willis. While it has its dark moments, this is a great movie for parents to take their kids to with everyone leaving the theater satisfied. Cynics should stay home.
The Boys of Baraka (2005)
An engrossing account of a year spent at a Kenyan boarding school by 11- and 12-year-old boys from a crime-ridden Baltimore neighborhood.
I saw this film at the SXSW 2005 film festival where it won the Special Jury prize and was the runner-up audience favorite. It's a powerful emotionally involving film that should reach a wide audience. The skill of the filmmakers is most evident as you say to yourself over and over, "how could they have gotten that on film? Don't these people see the camera watching them?" Beautifully shot with a tremendous amount of heart, it's the first documentary (non-Holocaust-related) I've seen that had grown men in the audience with tears in their eyes. It contains both hope and despair, and makes you feel strongly that this shouldn't be happening in the United States of America. As soon as you have the chance, go and see it.