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Rabbit-Proof Fence, from Australia, is a heart-wrenching, gorgeous, amazing movie; that is why you should see instead of Gerry. Long and short of it: 3 half-caste children (Aboriginal/English(or Aussie)) are forcibly removed from their mother and taken to a camp 1500 miles away, where they're taught to be useful members of society. That way, they can become domestic servants and 'improve their status'. (Without going into a reactionary diatribe, let me just say that that's total crap.) The three girls (ages 8-14) escape the camp and follow the rabbit-proof fence all the way home to their family. They walked the entire way, evading capture from both a tracker and the Australian government.

This is all based on the true story of Molly and Daisy Craig and their cousin Gracie, as written by Molly's daughter. Did I mention this was in 1931? Less than 100 years ago?? And we call *the natives* savages...

Now, a word on why this movie kicks "Gerry"'s ass. Gus Van Sant, with the help of those pesky Dillon/Affleck kids (Casey, not Ben this time), just shot and released a movie about 2 guys wandering around the desert. It's lyrical. It's moving. It's 2 hours of "Waiting for Godot" but with sunstroke and stupidity. Who goes into a desert without a cell phone in this day and age? Who... never mind. I'm making a movie play by reality's rules. Rabbit-Proof Fence is much more than that. It's quiet and moving, and there are lots of sweeping shots giving me a new appreciation of Australia's interior. There's a driving purpose behind Molly's actions: go home. The actors are, with the exception of a smarmy Kenneth Branaugh, generally unexperienced and unpolished. They are without artifice or Method, and instead act as real people do. There isn't a large amount of dialogue, and the children are hard to understand in the beginning. But there is little dialogue, instead letting the land tell the story. The film should win cinematographic awards. It was amazing. The stark beauty of the land, the desolation and promise of nothing more than death... Wow.

The girls endure all types of weather (short of snow) and go without food and drink for days at a time. It took them 9 weeks to walk home (some of it with Molly carring Daisy), at which point the tension in the theater was high--would they be caught and returned, negating their hard-won homecoming? Those damn gov'ment types...

I'm not telling you. Go see it. Check out the book. Australia is vastly underrated.

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Glenn Close has a new baby that's an IFC darling: The Safety of Objects. It's a movie of how four families with adjoining back yards are affected by Close's son, who was in a car accident and is now a vegatable, being cared for at home. The cast is rather large and expansive, including Dermot Mulroney, Moira Kelly, Timothy Olyphant, Mary Kay Place, Patricia Clarkson (who is currently to be seen everywhere and it's about damn time), and Joshua Jackson in the finest performance of his career (post S3 on DC) as Paul, the almost-dead kid. All said, it's an interesting film told with well-placed and well-paced flashbacks that aid the story but never enable it. Without the backstory, the actors have to work harder to have depth--which is good. However, they all can't do that...so it's less-good. Based on a collection of short stories, I feel it never found it's overall pacing or tone, and instead stumbles along without explanation. The adult actors never asked what their character's motivation(s) were, while the kids intrinsically knew. The adults, while the driving force of the plot, are horribly shallow compared to the children who have depth, complications, and an understanding of consequences which eludes those over 20.

When it makes it to IFC, make sure to watch it. It's not really worth full-price. Sorry, Mandy, but that golden era's over for you. It's time to move on in a new direction, and 'crabby controlling-mom' isn't the way to go.

The funniest moments of this film were with her son and his illicit relationship with his sister's Barbie-esque Tammi doll. Not only does she talk and flirt, she needs rescuing from the 8-year old sister who has a proclivity to nibbling on the doll's feet (to his utter horror). It's bittersweet and very sad, but it gave us the excuse to break into sorely-needed laughter.

That, plus the blow-pop, made it a positive movie-going experience.

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