Convincing Irish accents add to the performances of the British born Angela Lansbury and Gina McKee, and American born Dianne Wiest, with McKee as Wiest's daughter, discovering that her gay brother Keith McErlean is dying, of AIDS. Estranged from her mother and grandmother Lansbury because of many differences over the years, she brings her brother to Lansbury's lighthouse home out of his need for family care, and all the old resentments erupt as the older generations try with all of their might to understand the seriousness of the situation, as well as the presence of McErlean's best friend, Sean Campion, upsetting Lansbury who had hoped in spite of her feelings that her grandson had a partner. Two neighbors of Lansbury's pop in and out as sort of a comical Greek chorus, but the structure of the story is mainly dramatic.
It's a modern tragedy with resentments, prejudices, a few apologies, and very real human conflict, and considering the proud Irish nature of the older women, they are relatable, with Wiest stern and emotionally closed off, unable to face her built up emotions, and Lansbury more open because she's seen a lot and doesn't have much time to care about what other people think. She's honest mainly over the mistakes that all families make, mainly trying to rid McKee over the lingering bitterness she feels towards her mother. Much of the film deals with the abandonment that McKee and McErlean felt when Wiest left them with Lansbury as teenagers because their father was dying and she didn't think they could handle watching him die.
Forgetting that two great actresses are playing major parts, this is heart wrenching because it feels so real. Looking in on all the pain and anger going on, it's a crisis that could pop over into any family and watching the characters begin to make slight alterations is more realistic than seeing them make massive changes. It's a terrific ensemble, and a great opportunity for Wiest to be the opposite kind of character than all those optimists or funny neurotics she'd played as the mothers in "Edward Scissorhands" and "Parenthood". The important element here is the honest admission that parents do the best they know how, and those are the words that a dying son needs to hear which when the inevitable happens leads to the survivors finding peace. Thus, a very profound and truly spiritual film, and very well done.
It's a modern tragedy with resentments, prejudices, a few apologies, and very real human conflict, and considering the proud Irish nature of the older women, they are relatable, with Wiest stern and emotionally closed off, unable to face her built up emotions, and Lansbury more open because she's seen a lot and doesn't have much time to care about what other people think. She's honest mainly over the mistakes that all families make, mainly trying to rid McKee over the lingering bitterness she feels towards her mother. Much of the film deals with the abandonment that McKee and McErlean felt when Wiest left them with Lansbury as teenagers because their father was dying and she didn't think they could handle watching him die.
Forgetting that two great actresses are playing major parts, this is heart wrenching because it feels so real. Looking in on all the pain and anger going on, it's a crisis that could pop over into any family and watching the characters begin to make slight alterations is more realistic than seeing them make massive changes. It's a terrific ensemble, and a great opportunity for Wiest to be the opposite kind of character than all those optimists or funny neurotics she'd played as the mothers in "Edward Scissorhands" and "Parenthood". The important element here is the honest admission that parents do the best they know how, and those are the words that a dying son needs to hear which when the inevitable happens leads to the survivors finding peace. Thus, a very profound and truly spiritual film, and very well done.