Safe Passage (1994)

Director:

Robert Allan Ackerman

Writers (WGA):

Ellyn Bache (novel)
Deena Goldstone (screenplay)

Release Date:

January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Life's best journeys take you home

Plot:

A mother with seven sons feels like she's losing control of her life and her family. But personal pain...

Plot Keywords:

Large Family | Gay | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Susan Sarandon	...	Margaret "Mag" Singer
Nick Stahl	...	Simon Singer
Sam Shepard	...	Patrick Singer
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Cynthia
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Alfred Singer
Sean Astin	...	Izzy Singer
Patricia Reeves	...	Mrs. Silverman
Joe Lisi	...	Dog Owner
Matt Keeslar	...	Percival Singer
Marvin Scott	...	Newsperson #1
Bill Boggs	...	Newsperson #2
Christopher Wynkoop	...	Evangelist
Kathryn Kinley	...	Newsperson #3
Philip Arthur Ross	...	Merle Singer
Steven Robert Ross	...	Darren Singer

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Held up from release by a court injunction brought by 'Dan Lupowitz', who was seeking an executive producer credit for the film, having brought director Robert Allan Ackerman and Susan Sarandon to the project.

Goofs:

Continuity: Neatness of the face paints on Percival.

Quotes:

Izzy Singer: I think the blindness is an allergic reaction to the cat and all the tea you've been drinking... Dad, go with me on this, okay? The first day I got here you were blind. Did you drink any tea that morning?
Patrick Singer: No.
[Izzy takes his tea]
Patrick Singer: What is this? Gimme my tea!... Jesus!
Izzy Singer: I saw Mom throw Lucy out and then minutes later, after you talked to Gideon, you're sight started coming back, remember? And yesterday, the cat was around and at first you were all right but then you drank tea and you looked at the paper and you went blind. Later you went upstairs to take a shower, which probably washed some of the dander off and you could see again. I was right there. Dad think about it - what's the first thing you do in the morning? You drink tea! And you drank a cup of tea last night right before you went to bed, do you remember? You said "I'm allergic to liquor and I should probably stick to tea. Then you spent the night with the cat and here you are!
Patrick Singer: HAVE YOU LOST Your Mind? Huh?
Izzy Singer: Did you even have ONE allergic blind attack when you were sleeping at your office? Your office without the cat?... Huh?
Patrick Singer: I don't know. I don't know, maybe not.
Darren Singer: Wow.
Merle Singer: But if it's so simple, how come the doctors missed it?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Decent

Safe Passage (1994)

** (out of 4)

Wife and mother Mag Singer (Susan Sarandon) is going through a hard period in her life. She has kicked her husband (Sam Sheppard) out of the house and she planning on leaving the town with her youngest son so that she can get the first real job of her life. She raised seven sons and is starting to feel that she hasn't done enough for herself so she's hoping a change will bring around some good. The mother is constantly awaken at night due to nightmares where she thinks something has happened to one of her children.

These fears come true when one of her sons, stationed overseas, is involved in a terrorist attack on a U.S. base. It could takes days for the victim's names to be released but in the meantime the six other sons arrive home to wait for the news. Over this time the family tries to deal with the past and deal with the future if one of the brothers has in fact been killed. At the same time the father is dealing with an illness that causes him to loose his sight but to him this is a minor thing because his marriage has fallen apart.

Safe Passage is a film I've been meaning to see since it was released ten years ago. The film slipped into theaters very quickly and left just as quietly so this was my first chance to see it and I couldn't help but feel disappointed in the end result. There are many good elements in the film but the melodrama is just so darn thick that by the thirty minute mark you'll be losing patients in the characters and the film. The film plays out much like a TV movie so perhaps that's why it had a hard time in theaters.

The film's story is very simple, which means we should have gotten a straight forward drama but instead the screenplay throws in all sorts of flashbacks, which I guess are meant to show how good of a mother Sarandon is but this here really wasn't needed and is just too cute for such a serious drama. The cuteness is another problem with the film as is the comic relief of the father having blind spells. There are cute scenes popping up all over and the entire look of the family is completely wrong. They live in a dollhouse with a basement and garage and all seven sons are good looking, healthy and seem like leftovers from Leave it to Beaver. With all the goodness going all, it makes the fighting seem all the more overly dramatic.

The highlight of the film are its performances, which are all first class. Susan Sarandon has certainly proved to be one of the best actresses out there and her performance here comes off very natural and realistic. The screenplay makes her out as a nut, which I think is another problem, but during the tender moments Sarandon really shines. Sam Sheppard steals the film as the father who is trying to come to terms with his wife as well as worrying over his sons. The stuff dealing with the blindness is poorly written so I'm not sure if it was meant as comic relief or if the film was taking the illness seriously. Of all the sons, Sean Astin comes off doing the best work but Nick Stahl, Robert Sean Leonard and Jason London also do nice work. Marcia Gay Harden also does a terrific job as a single mother dating the oldest son.

The movie features some very good moments including the scene were Sarandon and Harden exchange shots of tequila but overall the overbearing melodrama really kills things. This is a very frustrating movie that throws all sorts of problems at the viewer yet these lifelong problems are taken care of within minutes and the fighting stops until the next issue pops up. Then, forty years of problems are all forgotten in the last five minutes of the movie, which means we've sat through this film for no reason. Outside the performances, there's really very little to recommend with Safe Passage.