Emotional stress can lead to the metaphorical “digging of
holes.”
In Wolfe’s DVD debut of director Maura Anderson’s Heartland
on June 6 we also learn that sometimes you just have to stop digging and accept
the fact that everything is screwed up … and just deal with it. There are bigger issues at play.
Lauren (played by Velinda Godfrey, also co-wrote the script
with fellow actor Todd Waring) has just lost her friend and lover to
cancer. For her it is a tough emotional
time and that is to be expected. Grief
can consume.
She retreats to her childhood home in Guthrie, Oklahoma
(about 20 miles north of Oklahoma City), to live with her widowed mother,
Crystal (Beth Grant — No Country for Old Men, Little Miss
Sunshine, Rain Man, etc.), who believes in her heart of hearts that her
daughter will become “straight” once again.
Mom always has a smile on her face, keeps busy with her
hobbies and is a devout church-goer … she’s a sweet lady. Lauren’s mother means well, but she’s not
going to fix things, so it is best not to get into it. Time, more than anything, will heal the pain
of Lauren’s loss.
Also back home is Lauren’s brother, Justin (Aaron Leddick),
who knows how to keep mom at bay (the right words; the right amount of
devotion). He is consumed with getting
ahead and has big plans for a Napa-style winery on the outskirts of Oklahoma
City.
He offers little comfort to his sister and has little time
for his fiancé , Carrie (Laura Spencer — perhaps best known to audiences as
Jessica on the Bones television series and as Emily of The Big Bang Theory), who
is like a fish out of water in Oklahoma (a California girl).
Director Maura Anderson and actor/writer Velinda Godfrey have
set up the first act of the film with character introductions that deliver some
interesting dynamics — a grieving
Lauren, her cheerful mom, a way too-busy brother and his fiancé, who now has
time on her hands when Justin suddenly takes off on matters relating to his new
business venture.
The chemistry between Lauren and Carrie is, at first, that
of two friends hanging out — a visit to some childhood places, a local
roadhouse for some fun … and then. It’s
the “and then” part that sets off the emotional hole-digging. Her mom doesn’t understand and is hurt; her
brother is furious …
Heartland challenges the viewer and, like life, it can get
messy. At what point do loving family
members stop digging and start healing; start meeting the emotional needs of
those who need the help most? Yes, Heartland
is a challenging film that breaks conventions, it doesn’t hold to well-worn
genre motifs and that means that not everything will be neatly resolved by the
final fade to black.
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