This was a surprisedly emotional movie mostly because of the exceptional acting by the two leads: Marissa Tomei as Margaret Lang and Charlie Plummer as her teenage son Marcus. It's odd that this movie didn't have wider release as it seems to have flown under the radar but perhaps the depressing subject matter was the reason. Set in a village in the Pomona County forests north of LA, the movie begins with a seemingly idyllic family of the musician liberal father Steven (Timothy Olyphant) and the very busy corporate ad executive mother and 16 year old Marcus who seems to idolize his cool hip father. Tragically, Steven is killed in a parking lot fight gone wrong and Margaret and Marcus' lives unravel with the awful grief. Margaret descends into alcoholic withdrawal leaving her son to be the responsible one handling bills. In addition to his own deep grief that affects his relationships with his peers, it's clear the years spent rising in the corporate world has left a big rift of emotional neglect between mother and son now fueled by grief laden dysfunctional behaviors by both survivors. Margaret compounds the trauma by making a drunken pass at her own son sending him fleeing first to a friend's home then to the woods in a tent to escape all his trauma.
Margaret embarks on a journey of self healing and sobriety and, with the help of her AA sponsor, attempts to heal the rift with Marcus. This journey is powerful and real culminating in an emotional final scene. Tomei and Plummer are awesome at portraying the explosive and raw feelings surrounding such tragedy. Charlie Plummer is emerging as a young actor with a fantastic ability to accurately portray strong adolescent emotions in a series of roles as a teenage character in extremely trying circumstances. Let's hope he can transition to adult roles successfully.
Margaret embarks on a journey of self healing and sobriety and, with the help of her AA sponsor, attempts to heal the rift with Marcus. This journey is powerful and real culminating in an emotional final scene. Tomei and Plummer are awesome at portraying the explosive and raw feelings surrounding such tragedy. Charlie Plummer is emerging as a young actor with a fantastic ability to accurately portray strong adolescent emotions in a series of roles as a teenage character in extremely trying circumstances. Let's hope he can transition to adult roles successfully.