A recent review:
http://www.t-g.com/story/1114126.html
REVIEW: "Our Very Own' is the new "American Graffiti"
Monday, August 15, 2005
By Brian Mosely
Arriving for the premiere of "Our Very Own" are stars (from left) Elizabeth Cole, Michael McKee, Jason Ritter and Autumn Reeser. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)
[Click to enlarge]
Cameron Watson's film, "Our Very Own," is a wonderful, heartfelt and true-to-life tribute to the town and the people of Shelbyville; the place that gave him the inspiration to reach for the top and get there by coming back home to tell his unique story.
As someone who grew up in neighboring Tullahoma during the same time period, this reviewer was overcome with memories when the trailer for the film was posted on the Internet back in February.
But after viewing the movie twice this weekend, it only can be said that the time and place depicted in "Our Very Own" is perfection, pulled from the writer and director's experiences, loving recollections magically brought to life, ones that many in this town share.
The year is 1978; a time in which there was still some type of innocence left in the world. Five teens -- played by Jason Ritter, Autumn Reeser, Hilarie Burton, Derek Carter and Michael McKee -- are spending the summer with nothing to do but borrow Mom's car to go cruising. It's long before the Internet, cell phones and sky-high gas prices -- and no video games are in existence except for "Pong."
So when the rumors start flying that the hometown girl who made it big, "our very own" Sondra Locke, is to return for the 39th annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, the teens are sent into a frenzy. Resser's character, Melora Kendal, becomes obsessed with the thought of being discovered and following in Locke's footsteps.
At the same time, her best friend, Clancy Whitfield (Ritter), is falling for Melora but is dealing with a deepening crisis at home. His father Billy, played by Academy Award-winner Keith Carradine, is spiraling down a dark path of destruction brought about by grief and guilt, while his mother (Allison Janney) tries to keep the family and her dignity together.
Life in Shelbyville is wistfully portrayed as the rural South once was. Every performance is dead on target, from Carradine's too brief, but effective, work as a man whose life has fallen out from under him to Resser's bright-eyed youth who yearns for more than her life seems to offer.
Janney's work as Joan, a woman trying to keep her world from falling apart, is something that hasn't been seen in film in recent memory. She feels as trapped in her life as the kids do, effectively brought to life when she realizes in one scene at a ladies' town meeting that no one has ever left Shelbyville. Her rapid shift in emotions reflects the chaos her life is becoming.
Ritter has the difficult job of playing a character who's living a double life, trying to balance his time with his tight group of friends with the unfolding tragedy at home, and pulls it off with staggering realism.
Resser's Melora is a striking ray of sunshine and naive optimism who reaches for the stars and knows she'll make it, if she can just get that one break like her idol Locke did.
Beth Grant is dead on authentic as Melora's mother Virginia, a chain-smoking Southern woman who seems to spend all of her time cooking, sewing and sadly shaking her head at whatever scheme the kids cook up next. Equally effective is Amy Landers as Melora's sister Rhonda, who seems resigned to the life that's been handed to her.
Cheryl Hines plays Sally, best friend to Joan since high school and key linchpin in the local rumor mill. She fulfills her role as the person who's always there -- with a shoulder to cry on and receive support from with understated grace.
Academy Award-nominated Mary Badham, who returns to film after almost 40 years, speaks no words in her all too short time on screen but says more with her eyes than most current performers are able to express in two hours.
Other standout roles are Faith Prince's turn as the town busybody, Dale Dickey's sassy waitress [Skillet] at Pope's Cafe, Burton's always bored Bobbie Chester, whose choice in dates causes trouble for her friends, and McKee's Glen Tidwell, who is beginning to face up to certain truths about himself.
All are part of the tapestry that is part of life in Shelbyville, exquisitely brought back to vivid realization by Watson's masterful direction.
Production design is totally accurate to the time period and area, with local touches that only life-long residents would be able to spot. The score by John Swihart touches the heart with delicate adornment.
Aside from a little language that's appropriate but never excessive, "Our Very Own" is a long overdue film for the entire family, full of wit, whimsy and a glance at life as it once was and how many long for it to be again.
One wonders if there were any local kids who viewed the film this weekend that will be given the life-changing aspirations that moved the characters in the movie as it did in real life with Cameron Watson when he chose to strive for his dreams. The circle would truly be complete if the enchanted cycle were to begin again
