SIFF Sighting: PRODIGAL SONS (documentary; USA)

In Kimberly Reed's PRODIGAL SONS, the audience at first believes they are going to see a 'coming out' of sorts, as Kimberly (yes, the director) returns to Montana for her high school reunion. When she attended the school she was a quarterback on the football team; now she is a successful woman complete with a (female) partner, a successful career and a life in the Big Apple.

But when she arrives at the reunion, instead of being met with hostility or anger at the new life she's chosen, she's greeted warmly by old friends and welcomed back into her hometown with open arms. What she didn't bank on was that her most challenging relationship would be with her adopted older brother, Marc.

Years ago, Marc flipped his car and suffered a serious head injury. Over the years he's had multiple surgeries to help correct the seizures and violent outbursts caused by the damage to his frontal lobe. Nothing so far has worked and his memory loss and aggression is only getting worse.

It appears when Kimberly returns with her partner Claire that Marc wants desperately to be close to them and accept them for who they are. But he can't let go of his past feelings of inferiority where Kimberly is concerned and Kimberly wants nothing to do with the past.

As if the situation isn't complicated enough, Marc's search for his biological parents ends when he learns that he is the son of Rebecca Welles--the daughter of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. Soon he is mourning the loss of a mom he never knew and immersing himself in the life of his famous grandfather, with the help of Orson's soul mate in Croatia.

This compelling documentary not only emphasizes the importance of acceptance and grace, it serves as a brutal reminder of why we can't turn away from those with mental illness. For everyone's sake.

PRODIGAL SONS screened at the 35th Annual Seattle International Film Festival.

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Marc

Cinebanter #44 - MARGOT AT THE WEDDING

The mp3 of Cinebanter 44 is available here.

In this episode, Michael and Tassoula scold Tassoula for choosing MARGOT AT THE WEDDING to review. During the Last Five®, Michael reaches the height of film snobbery and Tassoula offers an early peek at Johnny Depp's latest. The hosts also respond to a Listener Last Five® and announce the results of a recent Scene It game. The breakdown is as follows:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:32 MARGOT AT THE WEDDING Discussion
• Break
• 08:45 To Sum It Up
• Break
• 09:17 The Last Five®
• Break
• 41:30 Listener Last Five® (John in Seattle)
• Break
• 47:00 Scene It Results/Show Notes
• 52:23 Credits and Outtakes

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Michael's Last Five in this episode were: THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, 300, KILLER OF SHEEP, 7 UP AND SUPERBAD. Tassoula's Last Five in this episode were: TITANIC, PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HILLS, SWEENEY TODD: DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, JIMMY CARTER MAN FROM PLAINS AND BROTHERHOOD: SEASON 1.

Special thanks to Brad Daane and Mark Cummins for providing the original music in this episode.

Reviews and/or notes of every movie Michael sees can be found at his MichaelVox website.

Tassoula has reviews, musings and movie-related product links at Tassoula's Movie Review Blog.

Feedback is always welcome - you may leave comments here or e-mail the hosts at cinebanter@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy the show!