MONTREAL -- David Stevens' off-Broadway hit play has been transferred to the screen with more care than is usual, not surprising since Stevens adapted it himself and it is directed by the original theater director Kevin Dowling, in collaboration with Australian cinematographer Geoff Burton. The film is in the official competition at the Montreal World Film Festival.
This audience-pleasing Australian effort has the same gentle qualities as a "Driving Miss Daisy", although its theatrical origins are a little more evident, thanks to such devices as having the characters talk directly to the camera.
Story concerns the relationship between widower Harry Mitchell (Jack Thompson), a hard-drinking taxi driver, and his son Jeff (Russell Crowe), a gay man looking for love. Harry and Jeff live together, and far from there being strife over Jeff's sexual orientation, Harry is extremely supportive, to the point where he buys gay porn magazines in order to educate himself.
When Jeff brings home a date, Harry tries to make him feel right at home. This is a little disconcerting to Jeff's latest prospect, Greg (John Poison), a hunky gardner, who is still in the closet with his own family.
While Jeff and Greg are struggling with their own relationship, Harry himself is looking for companionship, and meets Joyce (Deborah Kennedy), a divorcee, through a computer dating service. The pair nervously hit it off, but Joyce is scared off when she discovers that Jeff is gay, and before the couple can work it out, tragedy strikes, and Harry is crippled by a stroke.
Far from weighing the film down, the subsequent caretaking of Harry by Jeff provides some of the funniest scenes as well as the picture's most moving ones. The blending of comedy and pathos is truly artful, and rare in today's schematic cinema.
"The Sum of Us", like many plays turned into films, is less than subtle, but it sneaks up on you, so that by the end you are thoroughly involved in the character's predicaments. Helping this along are the skillful performances. Thompson, in an atypical role, brings a charm and ease to his performance that will win over audiences worldwide, and Crowe plays his part with an engaging combination of sweetness and comic exasperation.
THE SUM OF US
A Samuel Goldwyn Release
Directors Kevin Dowling, Geoff Burton
Screenplay David Stevens
Producer Hal McElroy
Executive producers Errol Sullivan, Hal McElroy
Director of photography Geoff Burton
Production designer Graham (Grace)? Walker
Editor Frans Vandenburg
Cast:
Harry Jack Thompson
Jeff Russell Crowe
Greg John Poison
Joyce Deborah Kennedy
Jenny Rebekah Elmaloglou
Running time -- 100 minutes
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
This audience-pleasing Australian effort has the same gentle qualities as a "Driving Miss Daisy", although its theatrical origins are a little more evident, thanks to such devices as having the characters talk directly to the camera.
Story concerns the relationship between widower Harry Mitchell (Jack Thompson), a hard-drinking taxi driver, and his son Jeff (Russell Crowe), a gay man looking for love. Harry and Jeff live together, and far from there being strife over Jeff's sexual orientation, Harry is extremely supportive, to the point where he buys gay porn magazines in order to educate himself.
When Jeff brings home a date, Harry tries to make him feel right at home. This is a little disconcerting to Jeff's latest prospect, Greg (John Poison), a hunky gardner, who is still in the closet with his own family.
While Jeff and Greg are struggling with their own relationship, Harry himself is looking for companionship, and meets Joyce (Deborah Kennedy), a divorcee, through a computer dating service. The pair nervously hit it off, but Joyce is scared off when she discovers that Jeff is gay, and before the couple can work it out, tragedy strikes, and Harry is crippled by a stroke.
Far from weighing the film down, the subsequent caretaking of Harry by Jeff provides some of the funniest scenes as well as the picture's most moving ones. The blending of comedy and pathos is truly artful, and rare in today's schematic cinema.
"The Sum of Us", like many plays turned into films, is less than subtle, but it sneaks up on you, so that by the end you are thoroughly involved in the character's predicaments. Helping this along are the skillful performances. Thompson, in an atypical role, brings a charm and ease to his performance that will win over audiences worldwide, and Crowe plays his part with an engaging combination of sweetness and comic exasperation.
THE SUM OF US
A Samuel Goldwyn Release
Directors Kevin Dowling, Geoff Burton
Screenplay David Stevens
Producer Hal McElroy
Executive producers Errol Sullivan, Hal McElroy
Director of photography Geoff Burton
Production designer Graham (Grace)? Walker
Editor Frans Vandenburg
Cast:
Harry Jack Thompson
Jeff Russell Crowe
Greg John Poison
Joyce Deborah Kennedy
Jenny Rebekah Elmaloglou
Running time -- 100 minutes
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
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