Safe Passage

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful movie about togetherness.
Review: I thought that Susan Sarndon's character was incerdibly moving as well as Sam Shepard,Sean Aston and of course the young actor that always has my respect, Nick Stahl.A movie about family closeness and not missing a thing.

Rating:
Summary: Give this to your mother.
Review: I watched this the week before Mother's Day and couldn't help thinking what a good gift it would make for a strong, passionate sort of mother. There is one scene with a savage dog that I will remember for a long time because of what it says about a mother's love. It's an interesting, offbeat film about love, families, and mothers. I will also continue to think some about the scene where the mother reacts to the son's smoking dope and he let's her know she can't knock something she hasn't tried. Again, the depth of her passionate mothering is inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: Give this to your mother.
Review: I watched this the week before Mother's Day and couldn't help thinking what a good gift it would make for a strong, passionate sort of mother. There is one scene with a savage dog that I will remember for a long time because of what it says about a mother's love. It's an interesting, offbeat film about love, families, and mothers. I will also continue to think some about the scene where the mother reacts to the son's smoking dope and he let's her know she can't knock something she hasn't tried. Again, the depth of her passionate mothering is inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: Transitions In Life Are Tough Stuff!
Review: Safe Passages is an extremely engaging film of a family in the process of change. Susan Sarondon and Sam Shepherd play the parents of seven sons. All except one are now raised and out of the house. Sarandon having been a Mom since 19 is now in crisis; the realization of the energy she has spent raising her sons -- at the personal cost of any career or work is a challenging crossroads for her. We find her resentful of her children on one hand for having kept her away from career and frightened on the other hand of what to do with her life now that her sons are raised. She is completely uncertain that she can start a career at this point in her life.The entire family is summoned upon learning that one of the boys may have been killed in a terrorist bombing upon the Marie barracks he was assigned to. While clearly emergent, the family finds itself coming together only to be stuck together in wait -- the endless process of identifying who has died and who the survivors are is a careful and lengthy bureaucratic process. In the waiting together, the family is on one hand frightened at the prospect of the news they are waiting for while at the same time unintentionally re-examining their lives as a family unit. It is obvious by the kids' assessment of their Mom that she was a tremendous one. They are each extremely well grounded -- with the exception of the youngest who is still home caught in the midst of Mom and Dad's empty-nest crisis -- and have wonderful recollections of a strong loviing woman and a very involved father who reared them. The dad is the less dominant of the couple but he was very clearly involved in the loving care of raising his sons, although more involved with the two boys who were runners who shared his common interest in running. The empty-nest is difficult for him as well. When we meet both parents, beyond the emergency of their missing son, both of them are going through the worst of redefining their identities. Mom seems to believe she has nothing in common with Dad other than the boys at this point. Mom is a bit over the edge and has announced a separation. Dad is sleeping in his office.Through the coming together of the family, much of the crises seem to abate as Sarondon and Shephard realize that they have done a pretty good job of raising well adjusted men who like each other and have a deep respect for their parents.The movie's ending is a hopeful one, the immediate foreshadowing of the promise of Sage Passage for the parents is the news that their Marine son has survived and is fine. While it finishes there, we're pretty confident that Sarondon and Shepherd will make Safe Passages of their own as they move on together as a couple -- for the first time in many years -- without parental responsibilities.Excellent performances by Susan Sarondon, Sean Astin and Robert Sean Leonard.

Rating:
Summary: great stuff
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. As a 40 year male with no children I don't think I'll ever be able to get closer to understanding the feeling a mother has about her children than when I watched this moovie. Great ensemble cast. You'll defiantly laugh and cry in this movie. Sarandon and Shepard were great. I don't know the name of any of the children but it included the guy from swing kids and the guy from Mall Rats. The kid that figured out teh alergy situation has been around to and they all do a good job. Lots of realism in Surandans neurosis. There is a great piece of acting by the actress who played the wife of the "swing kids guy" in the kitchen scene with Sarandon. I call it the tequila and meatloaf sceen. That's the best scene in the movie mostly due to some dynamite dialogue. Other great scenes include the scene at the creek, the post dog attack, the fire in the driveway scene, the reporter confrentation, and the morning bunk bed sceen when the young kid says today's the day we'll find out.

Rating:
Summary: great stuff
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. As a 40 year male with no children I don't think I'll ever be able to get closer to understanding the feeling a mother has about her children than when I watched this moovie. Great ensemble cast. You'll defiantly laugh and cry in this movie. Sarandon and Shepard were great. I don't know the name of any of the children but it included the guy from swing kids and the guy from Mall Rats. The kid that figured out teh alergy situation has been around to and they all do a good job. Lots of realism in Surandans neurosis. There is a great piece of acting by the actress who played the wife of the "swing kids guy" in the kitchen scene with Sarandon. I call it the tequila and meatloaf sceen. That's the best scene in the movie mostly due to some dynamite dialogue. Other great scenes include the scene at the creek, the post dog attack, the fire in the driveway scene, the reporter confrentation, and the morning bunk bed sceen when the young kid says today's the day we'll find out.

Rating:
Summary: Representation of the typical NORMAL American family.
Review: Watching this movie was like visiting old friends that one sees on the holidays or goes on vacations with. I simply loved this movie and all of the little quirks in each of the characters: Mag's classical music stress relievers, Patrick's blindness, Alfred's compulsive neatness, Izzy's annoying observations, Percival's rebelliousness, Gideon's guilt, Merle's and Darren's twinness, and finally, Simon's hair. The fact that each character has something different about him or herself shows that this "dysfunctional" American family is just about as normal a family as I've ever met. One of the best qualities of this movie is that the issues and the family roles that are portrayed by and between each character are very realistic. My mother and I, as we watched the film, could relate to many of the scenes. My mother continually nodded her head as Mag went from scene to scene with a motherly presence so dominating it simply defined her as the representation of every mothers' unconditional love. My favorite moments in the movie occurred between Mag and her youngest son, Simon. Right from the get-go, there is just some unexplainable bond between the two of them that permeates the screen when only the two are involved, even when they scream at each other. Their relationship is a very special one that I can relate to. Izzy's devoted relationship to his father is one that I can relate to as well. Considering this family as "dysfunctional" is like considering the Pope a Hindu, which brings me to my next best quality about the movie. I love the relationships in the film and the honesty that each character shares with one another. For example, the scene near the beginning of the movie where Izzy is greeted by Alfred and the two go on to joke about Mag and her "Mussorgsky-mode" stress relief is pure magic. A scene between two brothers such as this one shows how much the two brothers love and respect one another. It also shows how in-tune to the family they are because they know the goings-on that occur with their mother, the sporatic blindness that occurs with their father, and just about everything that occurs with their other brothers. The relationships in the film are what holds the film together so well. Each character is forced to reevaluate how he or she feels about every other family member and how those relationships will either improve or grow stronger from the hardships placed before them. Susan Sarandon's portrayal of Margaret Singer was absolutely golden, Nick Stahl's portrayal of Simon was both poignant and hilarious at the same time. Over the course of an hour and thirty-eight minutes, I absolutely fell in love with this family, I felt like I've known them for years. Wonderful feel-good film.