The wry tone of "All Is Bright," a sardonic, smart screwball comedy that teams Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd as professional thieves trying to "go straight" by selling Christmas trees in New York City, is defined by its droll soundtrack of holiday favourite's. Familiar carols are reduced to bouncy instrumental elevator music with a hint of jazz and a smirk on its face.
Dennis (Mr. Giamatti), recently released from prison after serving four years for robbery, and his partner, Rene (Mr. Rudd), a safe-cracker, live in rural Quebec. Rene didn't show up for their last escapade, abandoning Dennis, who was arrested at the scene. While Dennis was incarcerated, Rene hooked up with his wife, Therese (Amy Landecker), who told their 7-year-old daughter, Michi (Tatyana Richaud), that her father had died of cancer. Rene is still married to another woman but has promised to wed Therese as soon as his wife agrees to a divorce.
How can Dennis bear to work with the man who left him holding the bag, then stole the woman for whom he still pines? As they say, beggars can't be choosers. The two are also longtime buddies, and Dennis, who is penniless, unemployed and on the brink of homelessness, is desperate. Laying a guilt trip on Rene, Dennis pressures him to take him on in the Christmas tree business. Even though Dennis is not allowed to leave the area while on parole, they load up a truck with trees and drive to New York.
These oddballs couldn't be more dissimilar. Dennis, a splenetic sad sack with a hangdog expression and a temper that could explode at any second, is very smart. The maddeningly goofy Rene is a compulsive talker with a streak of the ham actor in him. When their tree-selling enterprise gets off to a slow start, he affects the accent and rustic airs of Quebecois woodsman to charm potential buyers. Just when their business seems about to go bust, the last-minute rush for trees delivers a horde of customers.
"All Is Bright" is the first movie in eight years directed by Phil Morrison, who made a splash with his 2005 debut, "Junebug," a bittersweet family drama set in his home state, North Carolina. On the surface, the new film has little in common with "Junebug" except for its attention to psychological detail and its fondness for offbeat characters and respect for actors.
With its affection for downscale characters who dart in and out of the men's lives, "All Is Bright" has an openhandedness reminiscent of a Preston Sturges film. The screenplay, by Melissa James Gibson, a playwright who is a story editor of the TV series "The Americans," is devoid of laugh-out-loud jokes, but it has a continuing thread of bittersweet humour as Dennis and Rene interact with people in the neighbourhood, many of whom are struggling.
The most endearing character, Olga (Sally Hawkins, in a scene-stealing role), is the tough-tender Russian maid and house sitter for a pair of well-to-do dentists who are out of town. Olga befriends Dennis after she becomes his first customer, and he delivers and helps her install her tree. She doesn't seem to mind that his casual, compulsive thievery leads him to pocket expensive items from the dentists' well-appointed apartment.
Olga plays the piano, as does Dennis's daughter. Dennis's decision to steal a piano for Michi is the story's paradoxical moral fulcrum. His reversion to criminality enables a genuinely selfless act.
Dennis (Mr. Giamatti), recently released from prison after serving four years for robbery, and his partner, Rene (Mr. Rudd), a safe-cracker, live in rural Quebec. Rene didn't show up for their last escapade, abandoning Dennis, who was arrested at the scene. While Dennis was incarcerated, Rene hooked up with his wife, Therese (Amy Landecker), who told their 7-year-old daughter, Michi (Tatyana Richaud), that her father had died of cancer. Rene is still married to another woman but has promised to wed Therese as soon as his wife agrees to a divorce.
How can Dennis bear to work with the man who left him holding the bag, then stole the woman for whom he still pines? As they say, beggars can't be choosers. The two are also longtime buddies, and Dennis, who is penniless, unemployed and on the brink of homelessness, is desperate. Laying a guilt trip on Rene, Dennis pressures him to take him on in the Christmas tree business. Even though Dennis is not allowed to leave the area while on parole, they load up a truck with trees and drive to New York.
These oddballs couldn't be more dissimilar. Dennis, a splenetic sad sack with a hangdog expression and a temper that could explode at any second, is very smart. The maddeningly goofy Rene is a compulsive talker with a streak of the ham actor in him. When their tree-selling enterprise gets off to a slow start, he affects the accent and rustic airs of Quebecois woodsman to charm potential buyers. Just when their business seems about to go bust, the last-minute rush for trees delivers a horde of customers.
"All Is Bright" is the first movie in eight years directed by Phil Morrison, who made a splash with his 2005 debut, "Junebug," a bittersweet family drama set in his home state, North Carolina. On the surface, the new film has little in common with "Junebug" except for its attention to psychological detail and its fondness for offbeat characters and respect for actors.
With its affection for downscale characters who dart in and out of the men's lives, "All Is Bright" has an openhandedness reminiscent of a Preston Sturges film. The screenplay, by Melissa James Gibson, a playwright who is a story editor of the TV series "The Americans," is devoid of laugh-out-loud jokes, but it has a continuing thread of bittersweet humour as Dennis and Rene interact with people in the neighbourhood, many of whom are struggling.
The most endearing character, Olga (Sally Hawkins, in a scene-stealing role), is the tough-tender Russian maid and house sitter for a pair of well-to-do dentists who are out of town. Olga befriends Dennis after she becomes his first customer, and he delivers and helps her install her tree. She doesn't seem to mind that his casual, compulsive thievery leads him to pocket expensive items from the dentists' well-appointed apartment.
Olga plays the piano, as does Dennis's daughter. Dennis's decision to steal a piano for Michi is the story's paradoxical moral fulcrum. His reversion to criminality enables a genuinely selfless act.
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