Touches You

Memorable, crazy movie

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

To summarize this wonderful movie can't do it justice because it is through Geraldine Page's Mama where the whole becomes so much greater than the sum of its parts. Sometimes pain becomes comfort as we watch our days go by. Carrie Watts (Mama) has been in conflict with her daughter for years, but she is dependent on her and their fights never take them anywhere. Now aging, she wants to go back to Bountiful to try to recapture some of her youth. Of course, we have seen the them of "You Can't Go Home Again" played out so many times. But the bleakness of her "paradise" is so gut wrenching, we feel her pain, especially her trip into the old house. Even if we live for only a day, it is a new day with new challenges and excitement. The performance her by Page won an Academy Award and it was so deserved. While this film may make one sad, it's not maudlin or cheap or contrived.

Back in the 1950s, "The Trip to Bountiful" was a very successful stage play. I mention this because the film is a bit slower than many movies and it's easy to imagine it being performed live...much of it because the film has quite a few monologues. This is NOT a complaint....and I really enjoyed the picture...even if it's a bit of a downer at times.When the film begins, Mrs. Watts (Geraldine Page) is living with her adult son (John Heard) and his god-awful wife, Jessie Mae (Carlin Glynn). Jessie Mae is a very controlling and nasty lady and she seems to go out of her way to make Mrs. Watts feel like she isn't wanted. Oddly, she also doesn't necessarily want her to leave, either! In fact, Jessie Mae just seems to like complaining and making everyone miserable. As for her husband, Ludie is a wimp who wants everyone to get along but allows his wife to make the household tense. Within this atmosphere, Mrs. Watts has a strong desire to leave...not permanently, but to visit her old home town of Bountiful. While this seems like a reasonable thing, especially since Mrs. Watts is elderly and has a heart condition, Jessie Mae insists that she is not ALLOWED to make the trip...and that is that! Well, Mrs. Watts knows the only way to make this one last trip is to sneak off on her own...and she does.What follows is a long and leisurely film where Mrs. Watts meets several nice folks...nice folks who take the time to listen to her prattle on and on. It's obvious that no one has been listening to her...and she is making up for lost time! So what happens? See the film.The reason to see this film is the acting. Geraldine Page is delightful and I can see why she earned the Oscar for Best Actress. But I also thought that Carlin Glynn was also terrific. After all, I really, really wanted to throttle her...and she and the director did a great job in creating a strong emotional reaction in viewers. A nice character study and a film that might just make you shed a few tears...so have some Kleenex handy.

I am somewhat ashamed it took me 30 years to see this film. That's when it first hit movie screens-- back in late 1985. Honestly, in those days, I think I was more into the "big" films like BACK TO THE FUTURE; AMADEUS; and PRIZZI'S HONOR. So this character-driven movie was one that had crossed my radar but it wasn't something I felt compelled to see. At least not until last night.I found it on Hulu about a week ago. And I said to myself, "That's right, I have never watched __________. Let's add it to my queue, and one rainy day I will get around to seeing it." Well, it didn't rain last night...and there it was on the queue in front of me. I paused, then finally clicked 'play' and voila. I will be completely honest here. I loved the opening credit sequence, but as soon as the music stopped and the first scene began, I didn't like it at all. It was very stage-bound, at least in the beginning. After three minutes, I almost turned it off. The remote was in my hand, and my fingers were itchy. Change it. Turn it off. Find something else, the remote seemed to be saying. My remote control speaks to me sometimes.I almost did not have patience for this film. But maybe I got lazy or my itchy trigger finger on the remote calmed down, I do not know for sure. But a few minutes later, the lead actress had captured me. It was the way she sat in that chair. I can't explain it. It was a moment when the performer just totally gave herself over to the role. And the character came to life and I was drawn in...I had to see how this was going to continue playing out for the next 100 minutes. And so it went, and I remained glued to the screen. And this wound up being the best film (certainly the best performance by an actress) I had seen in a long time. And thirty years is too long a time to have deprived myself of it. It didn't matter if parts were stage-bound-- we were on a journey, this character and me. This actress and me. And we took a trip together.To Bountiful.

Every so often someone makes a film that is beyond praise; it doesn't happen all that often because if it did the Multiplexes would close for lack of fodder. Sometimes it's an example of sheer brilliance, Citizen Kane, for example, but often it's something deceptively simple like Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino, Le Grand Chemin. Significantly those last three titles are European (for that matter Orson Welles was a 'European' filmmaker in all but country of origin) but very occasionally an American filmmaker will produce the goods. The Trip To Bountiful is the goods. Led by a truly luminous performance that inspired the entire supporting players to raise their game. A total delight.