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SOFT FRUIT Send This Review to a Friend
This quirky film from Australia has Jane Campion as its executive producer, and although written and directed by Christina Andreef, that should tell you something about its oddball subject. If you like dysfunctional families, here's one to warm your heart. The plot revolves around an ill mother, Patsy (Jeanie Drynan), an angry father, Vic (Linal Haft) and their four offspring who have arrived at their small town home to care for mum.
The daughters Josie (Genevieve Lemon), Vera (Alicia Talbot) and Nadia (Sacha Horler) are hardly charmers whether weighed by personality or pounds. Their brother Bo (Russell Dykstra) is in an alienated world of his own. In the process of the crisis the family must learn to pull together despite the odds and the challenges. We are meant to come to like and appreciate them, at least to a point. Gallows humor, drama and heart-tugging moments combine to complete this family portrait.
How you respond may boil down to how much tolerance you have for this lot. I found their company growing tiresome, and while Andreef exhibits talent in both the writing and directing departments, the level of filmmaking that Campion usually brings to her work is not reached. A Fox Searchlight release.
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