After the Denim

AFTER I watched this film I sat around for maybe half hour. I wasn't really doing any mental gymnastics, more of just basking in the glow of a damn good piece of short cinema. I cannot recommend this film enough. Tom Bower absolutely kills it in this film. So happy to see him take the lead and deliver such a mammoth of a performance. As a Carver fan, I can say this piece handles the troubled author with enough respect and clarity that the themes from the short story are conveyed perfectly. The filmmakers obviously had love for Carver as well as almost each scene is retained with perfect delivery. And where else can you get a poignant drama about Bingo, the most sinister boardgame of them all. Where I ask you!?

Seek out this film. Well worth it for Carver and film lovers alike.

"After The Denim" is a beautiful film drawing us into the lives of an aging couple, James and Edith Packer, beautifully portrayed by Tom Bower, and Karen Landry. Raymond Carver's work prodigiously adapted by Gregory Goyins, writer and directorial debut, makes us feel the character, James Packers' conflict. Looking back at one's life and asking the poignant question, when did I grow old? Was my life meaningful? Did I love well? We feel the choices he faces, feeling his bitterness and pain, or numbing them with alcohol. I loved the young couple at the Bingo hall portrayed by Jeff Newburg and Ceren Alkac; they WERE the Packer's when they were that age. This film juxtaposes young and old, and the inevitability of aging that we all must face. In an age where film making is about multimillion budgets and special effects, this film tells a real story that we all can relate to, real life, and shows us that great film making does not require big bucks for a great story to be told. Beautifully acted, directed, and shot. A must see.

"After the Denim" translates Raymond Carver's short story of the same title to film with an admirable appreciation of Carver's small-town characters. The art direction is exquisite -- the apartment, the clothes, the close-ups, especially having Edith wear a girlish hair style (graying) and James in conservative clothes.

At the same time, the film goes beyond merely translating Carver's story; it brings in some resonances from Carver's longer (original, unedited by Gordon Lish) version of the story called "If It Please You" and updates the "hippies" of Carver's day to Gen X (or Y?) kids who drive an old Cadillac and look at James Packer with insouciance his obsessive, suspicious behavior deserves.

Read the stories in the Library of America edition, then see the film.

After the Denim is a faithful rendering of a Raymond Carver short story about a man coming to grips with his wife's terminal illness, compressed (like Joyce's The Dead) into a single evening. Adaptations of this sort can be tricky, especially since they rely so much on subtext, but this one successfully navigates the small epiphanies without spilling over into sentiment. The nuance is there in the finely tailored performances and humdrum trappings. The filmmakers get great mileage from simple locations: a bland bingo hall is turned into a dramatic space; an ordinary parking lot becomes confrontational. An auspicious performance from first-time writer-director Goyins and longtime producer-director Rosenfelt.

It was a wonderful touching film. It left me wanting more. I love Tom Bower and have always been a fan of his. He was true to form as always. I wanted to just reach through the screen and put my arms around both of them as they handle they're individual struggles that strengthen their love for each other so intensely. They had a love and understanding for each other that can only grow with time and patience that we all long to have and they shared it with us beautifully. The chemistry between Tom Bower and Karen Landry was brilliant. Their characters had a complete acceptance of each other and expressed an unyielding love for one another in the everyday simplicities of just being them. My heart broke being left wondering if she will be OK, knowing the possible outcome. And it screamed Bravo! when he tossed the booze down the drain using every ounce of strength he could muster to simply walk to the sink. I loved Tom's monologue to the young ones in the world who have no real idea what life is truly about just yet. And I loved the strength and grace of Karen's character as she worried more about her husband than herself and put her own fears aside to be able to give him assurance, though we know both of them are terrified of the pending bad news. As the film ends you're left with a feeling of affection for both of them, as if they are family you are genuinely concerned about and wanting to be there for. Wonderful! Powerful! Want more!