This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Coming Home to Roost
Plot Overview
When flighty rock star Randall Pritchard
(Kevin Bacon) paramour of Delia Byrd (Kyra Sedgwick) meets a tragic
end, Delia packs their preteen daughter Cissy (Regan Arnold) with
her to return to Karu, Georgia from which years ago she'd fled her
abusive husband Clint Windsor (Aidan Quinn.) For his sins Clint is
suffering terminal cancer. Economics force Delia to move back into
their house that is still hers. In exchange for home care, Clint grants
her custody of their two children Dede (April Mullen,) almost 16,
and Amanda (Vanessa Zima,) 14.
Theirs is a musical family. Delia favors
rock, Amanda gospel, Dede contemporary country, and Cissy classic
country. Clint is more visual who wants to see familiar fields out
the window as he lies dying.
We spot a porcelain dog on a table of Clint's house. When the girls move in, one of them brings a porcelain cat to set on the table. Delia moves it to the floor. After Clint expires we see it on a shelf.
Ideology
Delia's mother-in-law Grandma Windsor (Jackie Burroughs) characterizes her as fast: “You were fast growing up, fast leaving school, fast marrying, fast having babies, and fast leaving. You can't be fast coming back … after ten years.” Hers, however, is a hurried version of the story of the prodigal son.
You will recall from Luke 15:11-32 a man's younger of two sons
was fast at leaving home but had second thoughts upon realizing his
life in his newfound country was the pits. Delia realized L.A. was no place to raise a child,
so she headed back to Georgia with Cissy (“I gotta fix
things.”) The prodigal son's father ran to embrace him when
he saw him coming, and Delia was warmly greeted by a stranger on the
street (“Fine day”) as she set foot in town (“Y'all
enjoy it.”) And by a waitress off camera in the diner (“Good
morning.”) The father in the Bible spruced up his son with shoes,
robe and ring. Delia and Cissy had got checked into a motel three
hours out to get freshened up, Delia with a tattoo on her ankle. The
father threw a party for his son, killing the fatted calf. The two
girls chowed down on bacon and eggs in the diner going full swing
for the breakfast crowd. Then the older son coming in from the field
hearing the party honoring his younger brother complained to their
dad of his special treatment undeserved. A waitress behind the counter
spotting the returned daughter of the town let her have it: “I
know you. You're that bitch ran off and left the babies. Took off
with that rock band. Have yourself a good time? Got yourself
a fancy car? You're the kind we remember.” Adds a patron off
camera, “That's right.” The girls clear out in a hurry
(“Let's go.”)
Delia figured, “I could turn this
around if I could get us all back together.” She seeks counsel
from the Rev. D. Hillman (Dan Lett)
of The Holiness Redeemer Church of God—that she'd never attended.
He doesn't fault her for leaving Clint as he'd have killed her if she
stayed. And the tots had extended family to care for them in a pinch. Her
share of sin has to do with taking up with another man, as Paul (and the
Lord) put it, (1Cor. 7:10-11) “And
unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife
depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or
be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his
wife.” They're working on forgiveness.
A salient description of her behavior
can be found in, (Prov. 30:20) “Such
is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth,
and saith, I have done no wickedness.” The diner was a place
of leisurely discussions, and when patrons had to dash off for work,
they were warmly addressed to be seen again later. Not so with adulterers.
They don't have time for postcoital intimacies. After they've
done the deed, they've got to split before they're discovered. Grab
the napkin and run, or in this case throw some coin on the table for
an insulting tip and be prepared to justify themselves (“I
have done no wickedness.”) And worry about innuendo whether
it's meant or not, as in a J.D. Rhoades novel: “since coming
to North Carolina, she had dealt with her share of Southern women
who could fill just such friendly words with enough venom to knock
over a buffalo” (68.)
Production Values
“” was directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The screenplay was written by Anne Meredith based on the novel, Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison. It stars Kyra Sedgwick, Aidan Quinn, Sherilyn Fenn and Kevin Bacon. Sedgwick's real life husband Kevin Bacon plays the rock star she ran off with in the movie. The acting is fine throughout, but they're all given somber roles to play except for Fenn as an old friend M.T. whose face lights up upon reuniting.
MPAA rated it R for language. There's a soothing ocean scene
near the start, but quaint backwoods Georgia is too cluttered to
impress. There's a decided lack of action, which is okay in a chick flick,
but emotional depth did not pass over from the book either. This low octane
movie was filmed in Cayuga & Toronto, both of Ontario, Canada.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
In a word it's a yawner. For its part the plot is easy enough to follow, and the girls' liberal comments anchor it as well. It's not one to get all excited about except if it holds some personal significance.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: No action, slow adventure. Suitability For Children: Language not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Wake up and smell the 1990s technology. Video Occasion: Okay for a Rainy Day. Suspense: Predictable. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Rhoades, J.D. Good Day in Hell. Copyright © 2006 by J.D. Rhoades. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org