annevejb It took more than one viewing for me to really like this. First viewing, first ten minutes, it felt too weak to have reached DVD distribution. Then it picked up but it took special circumstances for me to watch it a second time. The second time, to me that was okay, as were the third and fourth viewings. The start of the film felt way too high brow. Repeated viewing say no, that is just the family in a trap, one of a whole load of symptoms. Pseudo high brow? This is one of many stories that allows one to compare how things used to be understood, traps that people used to fall into, occasional glances at UK newspapers say that they still do. As such I find that it holds its own and that it is an interesting puzzle. * Around the same time I was also watching 17 Again, a big-ish budget Zac Efron that is widely respected, and I actually prefer Beautiful Ohio. I find 17 Again to have a lot of amazing details and sequences, way above this story for that. Just this one seems to flow better. No little chunks of boredom among all of the detail. They can both be understood as considering traps that people used to fall into, still do, and both feel to be worthwhile and very different to each other, just I can now like Beautiful Ohio all the way through. 17 Again is mostly high quality in a range of different ways, this is quality in rather different ways.

gradyharp Ethan Canin is one of our more important authors ('America, America', 'Emperor of the Air', 'The Palace Thief' which became the film 'The Emperor's Club') and to discover a screenplay/story by him is a treat. BEAUTIFUL OHIO is a fascinating little film directed by Chad Lowe about an apparently close knit family that knows really very little about each other: it is Canin's purpose to unravel the stories of 'ordinary people confronting aspects of themselves they'd rather not see.' Behind each member's delusions and hopes to ultimately reach the mid-ground of recognition of just how special is each member is where this very tender story travels. Simon Messerman (William Hurt) is an insurance salesman who happens to read voraciously and speaks in quotations of famous writers and thinkers. His wife Judith (Rita Wilson) is equally bright, quotes as often as William, but adds a flavor of correcting people's grammar and living in a world of her beloved composers (Chopin, Schumann, Mozart, etc). They have two sons - Clive (David Call) is a long-haired math genius who despite his gifts spends his time playing loud hard rock music and speaking in a language all his own, and William (Brett Davern) who is devoted to his more intelligent brother but longs for a sense of normalcy in a family that tends to fragment at odd times. Clive's best friend and the only person who understands his special language is Elliot (Hale Appleman): the two of them essentially keep to themselves and smoke pot while they are not entertaining the 'homeless' Sandra (Michelle Trachtenberg). Sandra chooses to live in the basement of the Messerman house to avoid coping with her own abusive parents. The four youngsters are a team of sorts, thought the interrelationship roles each plays is not at first apparent. The Messermans brag about Clive's constant triumphs at math contests, entertain their neighbors the Cubanos (Matt Servitto and Julianna Marguiles), and fill their lives with attending math meets, basically ignoring the personalities of their two boys. William longs for acceptance and understanding by his parents: Clive lives in his own world. William is driven to discover the meaning of Clive's strange language and eventually finds clues that lead to the secrets he'd rather not know. A situation occurs that stuns the family, and the story jumps forward to the resolving aftermath of that discovery. For a bare bones budget film the story is well told and is a compelling one. Ethan Canin reads better on the page than his words convey through the mouths of actors, and at times the result is pretentious dialogue. But the cast is superb and the ending is one that makes the audience stop, think, and want to see the movie again for the clues we missed. Well worth seeing. Grady Harp

Jackson Booth-Millard The bigger thing about seeing this independent film was that I saw it at the 22nd Santa Barbara Film Festival while on a college trip, I had a fantastic time. Oh and after the film finished people in the audience could ask questions to the director, Chad Lowe, and star Brett Davern. Anyway, the film is a family-based film with a lot of talking about life in general, as well as other people's thought's and opinions. The main stars, and who are stealing the show from the teenagers, are the parents, Simon (Lost in Space's William Hurt) and Judith (Jingle All the Way's Rita Wilson) Messerman. The main plot seems to be involving the teenage brothers William (Davern) and Clive (David Call). Clive seems to be speaking what is an unknown language, and William is trying to find the "dictionary" with all words and meanings. The big twists towards the end though are that Clive and his best friend are gay, and that the language is in fact Hungarian, and the "dictionary" is in fact a poem. Also starring Inspector Gadget's Michelle Trachtenberg as Sandra, Ghost Ship's Julianna Margulies as Mrs. Cubano, Matt Servitto as Mr. Cubano, Hale Appleman as Elliot and Justin Matthews as Marty. Good!

bintensern This was a wonderful Movie. I saw the preview the preview in a special fund raiser in Cleveland for the Arts. I Can't wait till it is in wide distribution so that I can see it again. Chad Lowe the director and producer has brought humor, meaning, emotion, and depth to flaming. The actors are superb. William Hurt and Rita Wilson are excellent and make this movie time well spent. Julianne Marguilies is surprisingly charming in this role. The new actors are very good and I know they will have an excellent future. It was an emotional and compelling movie that kept me enthralled from the moment it started to the surprising end.