An L.A.
career girl, Carolina (Julia Stiles) has spent her life dealing
with her wildly eccentric and troubled family, led by Grandma
(Shirley MacLaine), while toiling on a dating game show and
hanging onto best friend Albert (Allessandro Nivola). The arrival
of handsome, nice Heath Pierson (Edward Atterton) and new family
developments make it hard but a happy ending is sure to be found.
CRITIQUE
The comedy standby of the quirky, embarrassing family gets added to
romance in
Carolina,
an entertaining film with exceptional performances and unpredictable
storyline.
This film establishes from the start that
Carolina feels like the "normal one" in her family of deadbeat dads,
trash-talking grandmas, and unwed pregnant sisters. One of the nice
secondary concerns of the script is how she learns that being one of
them is not a bad thing. The humor is of the "Oh my God, I can't
believe she just said that!" variety, mostly from a hilarious
MacLaine. There is clearly an affection among this family, though,
that makes a nice equal plotline to the romantic triangle that
develops.
As a sucker for romance, I particularly enjoyed this plotline and
its done well. Albert clearly adores
Carolina but when Heath comes on the scene, the audience sees he's a
perfectly nice guy who shares a passionate chemistry with Carolina.
What happens is not the cut-and-dry, expected plot progression,
either. Other surprises come in the second half of the film that I
won't give away but I will say there is a sadness you don't expect. I
like a lot of the dialogue here, such as on Carolina and Heath's first
date and the Thanksgiving scenes.
Marleen Gorris' direction makes use of an L.A.
that is not glamorous or manufactured with shots that are pretty
cohesive in style. I can recall two examples of composition that
caught my eye and the editing is solid. The art direction and music
also stand out.
I am such fans of the actors here. Aside from MacLaine, Stiles is
excellent. I am thinking specifically of a scene that has to do with a
plot point I don't want to give away. Atterton is just perfectly cast
as the suave and upstanding Pierson. Nivola may be my favorite,
though. His character is a writer and he's comfortable with the wit
that requires Just watch for the scene where he reads from a novel he
wrote. It’s great.
THE VIDEO
The straight to video film is presented in anamorphic widescreen
and the visuals feel like an indie film.
THE AUDIO
The solid soundtrack is heard in the usual Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround and Spanish subtitles are available.
THE EXTRAS
Behind
the Scenes:
A brief making-of featurette that includes the usual interviews with
cast and crew and behind the scenes footage. The only complaint here
is that you wish it had been longer but the praise offered throughout
the cast for each other feels genuine and it’s clear they all had
great fun. This is worth a watch.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As
a film,
Carolina
is quality viewing over an hour and a half, thanks to a good script
and an outstanding cast, led by excellent Stiles. As a DVD, one extra
adds to the enjoyment but you wish there had been more. In fact, a lot
of viewers may wonder why this didn't get a theatrical release, but
here's hoping the DVD fares well.
