Home Before Dark

A lovely film, featuring marvelous performances by Ross, Kalember, Delate and young Castellarin as the heroine. With humor and tenderness, "Home Before Dark" shows the struggles of a family living in the shadow of personal and national tragedy. Has a great period look (pre-Beatles/hippie 1960s...check out the aunt's Danish moderne furniture and pastel party food). I loved the Catholic school details, too...uniforms, furtive sixth-grade flirting, the strict nun who turns out to have a heart of gold. Those things were all recreated just the way I remember them. The writing and directing is sharp, and the music's great too, especially in the scene where the girl's alone in her mother's room. Seek this one out, it's a gem!

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I think that this is a story written by a woman, for women. The terrible circumstances that cause the girl's sadness should have made me feel sympathy. Instead, I was annoyed at her sullen, ungrateful attitude. I had to keep reminding myself that she was surviving in the only way she knew how... but the hurtful way she treated her uptight, misguided aunt, made me dislike her even more. She seemed less the victim than a brooding narcissist. On the other hand, the old nun's part was played beautifully. Her performance made the whole movie worth watching.

I thought it was truly brilliant. The performances were spectacular, the writing was outstanding and Ms. Foley's directing really hit an emotional mark. I imagine the budget for this film was quite small, but the talent and production value more than makes up for it. Do yourself a favor, rent this one. It's perfect.