Caruso / Mendelsohn Productions
Embeth Davidtz, Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Rachel Resheff, Kathryn Erbe, Ann Arvia, Jessica Bernard, Nicole Brending, Peyton R. List, Dana Eskelson, Antonio Ortiz, Randi Kaplan
3 Backyards is the story of 3 families in the same neighborhood over the course of one long autumn afternoon. The is a couple who’s relationship is struggling. The man finds his flight is cancelled and instead of going home, decides to take up the airline on their offer to put him up overnight in a hotel to avoid doing home. There is a lady who realizes that the new person in the neighborhood is a minor celebrity. This makes her obsessed and wanting to become her best friend overnight. But she finds the lady is not so willing to talk about what’s bothering her. The third personal is a young girl who witnesses something accidentally that she not have seen. This sets off an obsession for her to one of the neighborhood boys. The three stories really never intertwine and there is no resolution. Just a day in the life…..
This was a Sundance Film Festival entry, and that’s what it looks like. I’m sure there is a tiny market for movies like this to keep film scholars busy talking about the incredible beauty and strong visual message of the film, and the nuances of the shot selection and so on, and so on. But I have to say that this film did not impress me much. I like films to have either interesting subjects or some kind of plot. This was neither, and there is no real reason why these three stories would go together other than they just happened to live in the same town. I’m sure you could find 3 people in any neighborhood and come up with just as interesting a story. So with no great character development, no particular story or resolution, and nothing to tie the three stories together, I don’t have much on which to recommend this movie. I think it was a nice idea that just didn’t go anywhere. I wanted it to get interesting and it never did. All of the actors were pretty decent, but no one had anything to say. So I will stay it for them. Just skip it!
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
