Once a week on Friday, Uncle Bardie celebrates the creativity in others by shining a Spotlight on a movie or a creator. This week’s Spotlight Creator is “The Hollars” (2016):
First off, “The Hollars” is not another blockbuster out to break the latest blockbuster records. But it’s even better. It’s a small film that took only three million to make. In today’s movie budgets, that’s loose change. It would even cover Iron Man’s wardrobe.
The Holars are not just another dysfunctional family. They’re dysfunctional in a way that takes the cliche out of dysfunctional. They’ve got the same kind of charm I found in the Southern family of “Crimes of the Heart” or “Home for the Holidays”.
Sally Hollar has been married to Don Hollar (Richard Jenkins) for thirty-eight years. She has two sons. Don is a small business owner whose business is going bottom upsky. Her son, Ron (Sharito Copley), is living at home because he lost his job. He’s divorced because he wanted to be divorced. Now he’s missing his kids and wants his marriage back. His ex-wife is seeing a youth pastor (Josh Groban). And her son, John (John Krasinski), is off in New York City, trying to make it as a graphic artist. He lives with his pregnant girlfriend (Anna Kendrick).
Then Mom has a seizure in the bathroom one morning. And she is the glue that holds the family together with her love, her honesty and her sense of humor. But now she is not going to be the one to hold the family.
Filled with a solid cast of wonderful character actors, “The Hollars” is well worth seeing. It’s a movie that made me smile. And kudos go to Anna Kendrick. This is the second off-beat movie I’ve seen her in recently. The second was “Table 19”. And she is making quite an impact as a character actor.
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