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| Low-octane 'Bonneville’ drifts into a ditch | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Craig Outhier, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| February 29, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen as three best buds from Idaho who don Grace Kelly-style head scarves and hit the road for feminine bonding and life-affirming adventure, the movie is sweet and well-cast but underserved. There’s no suspense, no edge, no rooting interest. It’s kind of like watching a Hallmark Theater remake of “Thelma and Louise,” minus the guns and holdups, with Tom Skerritt making like a septuagenarian Brad Pitt. Two-time Oscar winner Lange (“Blue Sky,” “Tootsie”) is all bewildered sorrow as Arvilla, a widow who returns from a trip to Borneo with the worst sort of souvenir: her dead anthropologist husband’s ashes. As if the empty house weren’t distressing enough, there’s also Arvilla’s bitter, hectoring stepdaughter, Francine (Christine Baranski, wasted as the “heavy”). As the sole beneficiary of her father’s estate, Francine threatens to evict Arvilla from the house unless she couriers the ashes to California for a proper Christian burial. Out of options but unwilling to make the trip alone, Arvilla dusts off her husband’s like-new 1966 Pontiac Bonneville convertible and recruits her two best friends to go with her: single, sassy Margene (Kathy Bates) and married, sanctimonious Carol (Joan Allen). “What kind of Mormon are you?” Carol grouses at Margene, after taking an unwitting swig of coffee from her friend’s thermos. “The fun kind!” Margene yelps. And that, dear reader, is about as wild as this midlife road romp gets, unless you count Arvilla’s habit of “accidentally” spilling handfuls of her husband, per his wishes, at various Utah landmarks: Bryce Canyon National Park, the Bonneville Salt Flats, etc. Granted, things get a little dicey when Arvilla picks up a young hitchhiker (Victor Rasuk from “Raising Victor Vargas”) on the side of the road. After all, he’s Latino! Or maybe Native American. In any case, the encounter ends peacefully (albeit awkwardly) when Carol gives the lad a Book of Mormon. And, yes, there’s the rugged, aw-shucks charm of a trucker named Emmett (Skerritt) who Margene eats up like a lollipop. (That’s only insinuated, of course — this is a PG-rated road trip.) And Arvilla’s final act of wifely defiance that feels neither final nor defiant. It all adds up to massive case of risk aversion for “Bonneville,” which was unveiled at a red-carpet premiere last week in Scottsdale (presumably to exploit metro Phoenix’s over-40 and/or Mormon demographic). For all the heart-to-heart talk, director Christopher N. Rowley and screenwriter Daniel D. Davis don’t seem to get their real feelings on the table. Case in point: Carol’s faith. The filmmakers tease it, dance around it, and generally treat it like the proverbial elephant in the room. More the shame. Carol, of all the women, seems most ready for a personal journey. Too bad the filmmakers never bump her out of first gear. MOVIE REVIEW 'Bonneville’Cast: Jessica Lange, Joan Allen, Kathy Bates Behind the scenes: Directed by Christopher N. Rowley, from a script by Daniel D. Davis Rated: PG (some mild profanity and innuendo), 93 minutes — Grade: C- Contact Craig Outhier by email, or phone (480) 898-5683 |
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