Plainsong (2004)

Boring, long, and too preachy.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I was completely disappointed by "Plainsong". It was a badly-written screenplay and thoroughly depressing movie from start to finish. Two young boys find a dead lady they're working for, and also get abducted and stripped by drunk high school jocks. These lucky young lads also happen to be mothered by an mentally ill woman, who also, by the way get left at a complete stranger's house to spend the night, only to be abandoned while asleep: nice, real nice. Their Dad's not much better (Aidan Quinn, where has your career gone dude?), he's getting ready to date all of the town skanks before the divorce papers are written. He's also is a crappy teacher, nice touch. Add the pregnant teenager to the mix, a 17 year-old who runs off to Denver with her abusive boyfriend only to get drunked up and puts her unborn child in danger, and this is what passes for family entertainment these days??? I can't believe Hallmark put their name on this load of manure. Look, I like a disturbing tale as much as anybody, but they usually have a plot, and don't have the name "Hallmark" associated with them. My wife and I watch Hallmark movies because they consistently are some of the best family entertainment available on television. Not this movie, not by a long shot. A special guest appearance by William Hung couldn't have butchered this "song" any worse.

This film would make a great TV Series because it was very down to earth about every day living with average American people in a town which manages to solve its own problems. There is a wife who just simply cannot stand the every day life of having two sons and a husband to care for and just wants to stay in bed or run away to her sister who lives in a big city apartment. There is also a young girl who finds out she is going to have a baby and her mother throws her out of the house and she winds up living with two old kind men on their ranch! This was a film the entire family could enjoy and learn a very important message about love and caring for your fellow neighbor and close friends. All problems have a solution and good comes out of all bad situations.

I happen to come across this gem of a "made-for-T.V.-movie" while vegetating in a hotel room on a business trip. I was pleasantly surprise to see Rachel Griffth in a Hallmark movie. She and Aidan Quinn lent a jolt of electricity to the story that no other actors could. Geoffrey Lewis turned in a helluva a performance in the role of one of the mentally challenged brothers that come to the rescue of a few of the character in the bitter-sweet tale of fractured life in present-day, rural Colorado. America Ferrara has been blessed with the same fierce but sympathetic spark that made Lili Taylor so brilliant in Dogfight. I recommend this movie not just because it is so good and real but because it is the rare 'good' T.V. dramas that the whole family can watch.

Spoilers... so scroll down to see review...............Yet another lame plot where partners just dissolve and immediately hook up with someone else, effortlessly. Happy ending: a brand new family. I'm tired of seeing "alternative family" movies. Would have been better if he had been a widow, and that's not much better. The cinematography was par to a Hallmark presentation - slow moving, full of props, golden. There were the usual "loveable" characters - two gruff old brothers. The reason I gave this movie a 2 instead of lower is because of the performances of these two old fellows and the best performance of all the actors - the Native American young woman, pregnant, and dealing with some tough issues. The teachers, boring. The other students, boring. The old lady who dies, well, not so boring but definitely too stereo-typical (even more so than the old brothers). The kids are cute, as kids tend to be. . With made-for-tv movies that have slid down the slippery slope to devolve into this washed out stuff, no wonder I belong to a generation that is jaded and cynical. Writers and directors, wise up.