Digging to China (1997) User Reviews

Earnest and sometimes moving

[Jeremy-124 · 7/10 · 12 April 1999]

Timothy Hutton and the cast of "Digging to China" deserve an "A" for effort and for having their hearts in the right place. Despite some awkward writing and a not entirely successful performance by Kevin Bacon, this film mostly succeeds by making you feel the deep need the characters have to connect with one another. Some scenes feel contrived, but the performances overcome this for the most part. Bacon is OK once you get used to him, but his performance feels a bit studied and overly mannered -- it doesn't flow as naturally as Leonardo DiCaprio's similar performance in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"

This movie shares some plotting and themes with "Lawn Dogs" -- in both films an older man befriends a lonely and odd young girl; people misunderstand and violence results -- which to me was a better movie. But "Digging to China" certainly deserves more attention than its gotten. The performance of Evan Rachel Wood as Harriet is one of the most amazing performances by a young actor I've seen in ages.

Highly engrossing

[sarastro7 · 8/10 · 26 July 2004]

I came across the start of this movie on TV at work, and despite having pressing things to do, I found myself absolutely compelled to keep watching the entire movie. It was a very, very captivating, touching, sweet and just plain well-crafted movie, with utterly amazing performances all round. Evan Rachel Wood (looking not unlike a child-version of Meg Ryan) was incredible as the 10-year-old so much wiser than her years, yet still embroiled in the imaginative and emotionally out-reaching world of childhood.

The story felt extremely honest and uncommercial, *although* I could have done without the whole suspected child molesting theme, which was a bit over the top. Fortunately, however, it ultimately didn't really affect the characters' fate. The ending was bittersweet, as this kind of story has to be, but one still wishes that a better solution had been possible.

A great work. 8 out of 10.

"My Girl" Meets "Of Mice and Men"

[view_and_review · 8/10 · 23 November 2020]

When I see a movie and I see within it a splicing of two or more movies I never know what to expect, even if it is two or more movies I like. "Digging to China" was a combination of good movies and it was also par excellence itself.

"Digging to China" centered around Harriet Frankovitz (Evan Rachel Wood), a 10-year-old girl with a wild imagination, a fascination with the National Enquirer, and desperate to run away from home. It wasn't that her home life was all that bad, she was simply detached from her alcoholic and lethargic mother (Cathy Moriarty) and her promiscuous sister Gwen (Mary Stuart Masterson).

Harriet was delivered a good and needed friend in Ricky Schroth (Kevin Bacon) when his mother's car broke down. Harriet struck a deep yet socially weird friendship with Ricky, a mentally handicapped adult male who operated on the level of a 10-year-old.

First, I want to give props to Timothy Hutton on his first and only directorial job for a feature length movie. You may know him very well as an actor in movies such as: "Taps," "The Falcon and the Snowman," "Q & A," "The Dark Half," and others. I wouldn't say he was a mega-star, but he was well recognized.

Secondly, I love this movie. It is so simple, pure, and touching. Both Wood and Bacon were phenomenal. Their friendship just melts the heart though you know it is not entirely appropriate nor is it sustainable. All you want for them is to enjoy each other's company and comfort each other for the short amount of time they will be together. It was so pure and innocent you couldn't help but be moved.

wow

[jowidag · 1 April 2001]

Awesome movie, people. Not the best, but awesome. I saw this movie a while ago so I'll have to rely on what I remember. This movie had a wonderful story. It was very moving, for me, in the way that it showed great character depth. In other words, it showed people as they are, and gave you another perspective on how people see the world and the people who live on it. It showed why people act they way they do, and what you can do to help people. I don't see how anyone, after watching a movie like this one, could not be moved, possibly enough to reach out to someone and help them.

10 year old Hariette dreams all her life to dig to China, but a new friend gives her a reality check

[CharMania86 · 6/10 · 12 April 2005]

When you're having trouble choosing a movie and come across a title at Blockbuster starring some kid and Kevin Bacon playing 'Ricky'--a mentally disabled retard, this movie is a must-see. However, in my opinion, this film's plot wasn't as remarkable as what my expectations intended it to be, but lighthearted coming of age movies is my guilty pleasure, and overall, I loved it! Usually in these types of movies, the personality and acting of the characters shines through more than the story does itself---however there is one crack in "Digging to China" that really bothered me. The scene when 'Hariette' (Evan Rachel Wood) hears the sad news from her sister 'Gwen' (Mary Stuat Masterson) about her mother, I had trouble distinguishing the scene as a tragedy, or a comedy--the sappy yet corny trumpets playing to the film's soundtrack just confused me and made me laugh hysterically. But it was a nicely filmed scene. Bad music.

A mildly flawed gem

[magscadar · 7/10 · 8 March 2015]

I watched Timothy Hutton's 1997 directorial debut last night, called Digging to China. It's an obscure, limited release, low-budget film, made from a great little script by Karen Janszen. I had never heard of it, but the review in my film guide made it sound intriguing. Kevin Bacon is usually highly watchable and I've always liked him and his work. It costars Mary Stuart Masterson of whom we never see enough these days, and best of all, it was Evan Rachel Wood's first film.

Timothy Hutton's direction was fine for the most part. It was understated and light-handed, allowing the actors to breathe in their roles and bring the characters to life themselves. At times it felt a little too light and left the film feeling essentially directionless. And occasionally it seemed as though the actors had run out of things to say or do in a shot and were just hanging around waiting for the director to remember to shout "Cut!" Despite being a fan of the man and his work, unfortunately I found Kevin Bacon's performance to be somewhat disappointing. In the first act he seemed to be working too hard at the character of Ricky, a mentally retarded man who stays over at a cabin motel run by the family of Evan Rachel Wood's character Harriet. I don't think he did as well with it as other actors have in similar roles. The performances by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Leo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Cuba Gooding Jr in Radio, Sean Penn in I Am Sam and Brendan Fletcher in Tideland were all far better in my opinion. It's only once he gets further into the role and the story settles down a bit, that he seems to become comfortable and more convincing in it, and by the end his performance was reaching deeply to bring out the emotions in the character.

Mary Stuart Masterson does a competent job of portraying Harriet's elder sister Gwen. She was convincing in a role which largely consisted of acting as a foil and an antagonist to Harriet. They seemed as contrary and hateful towards one another as only real sisters can be, and the circumstances they suddenly find themselves in made it hard for Gwen to cope.

But what lifted the film and made it well worth every one of the seven stars I've given it was young Evan Rachel Wood's portrayal of the ten-year-old Harriet. Digging to China is absolutely and completely her film. Everyone else was really only contributing a supporting role to her great performance. Harriet is endearing and sweet, a solemn and lonely little girl with knobbly knees and long blonde hair who is left to her own devices in order to keep herself amused in her small world of make believe. She's played convincingly and seriously by Evan, occasionally showing some of her future self confidence as she portrays a lonely child; a child whose inventiveness while she plays amuses us even as we realise these are not just games she's playing; they're attempts at escape from her lonely existence. It's Harriet and Ricky's deepening friendship in her life of desperation which gives the film its emotional depth and real poignancy.

The film won the Children's Jury Award at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Evan remembers the role of Harriet as initially being hard, but she said that it "eventually led to her decision that acting is something she might never want to stop doing." It's not always easy to find, but it will reward the effort of hunting up a copy if you're looking to see something a little different.

An unpretentious little movie

[gkearns · 10/10 · 31 March 2000]

Digging to China is an unpretentious little movie. No great moral lessons are promoted here. It plays out within the limited area of a small resort motel, an old barn, the surrounding woods and streams, an elementary school, the connecting highways, a deserted caboose, and a school bus - with brief side trips to a cemetery and a hospital. No profound messages are involved; it doesn't probe the depths of the human condition. It's merely the story of the friendship between ten-year-old Harriet, a bright, imaginative loner, and Ricky, a man with special learning and behavioral handicaps. The relationship grows as each faces a major emotional life adjustment.

For a little movie, Digging to China is loaded with fantastic, deeply affecting, unforgetable images.

Tim Hutton is to be congratulated for putting this simple story together as a, yes, classic movie. Mary Stuart Masterson, quite possibly the most under-rated actress of our time, brings dignity to the evolving character of Gwen, who is determined to learn her new responsibilities. Kevin Bacon reads the part of the hurting Ricky with great sensitivity.

By its nature, the whole movie rides on the tiny shoulders of Evan Rachel Wood, and she carries it flawlessly. She can display a range of emotions many more experienced actors would kill for. In a few short minutes Miss Wood's features can slide subtly from questioning, to hopefully anxious, to happy, to forlorn - a masterpiece of acting.

Sensitive viewers will feel better for seeing it.

Flawed, but still touching

[DennisLittrell · 7/10 · 25 February 2001]

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

"You're going to grow up and I'm not."

This is what Ricky Schroth (Kevin Bacon) says to Harriet Frankovitz (Evan Rachel Wood) near the end of the film, expressing both the promise of her life, and the tragedy of his. It is precisely because of the potential of this sharp spoken, sharp witted, beautiful little girl with a mind of her own that we are mesmerized by her, as we are by our own children, and why we are so deeply saddened by the young man who is not a man and never will be.

This is a film that discovers itself after a clumsy start and develops until at the end we see the beauty and the tragedy of its story as an affirmation of life. Kevin Bacon starts awkwardly and has to work hard to conquer a demanding role. But so does Wood, who in the beginning at times seemed unsure of who she is and how she should feel and react. But both actors grow into their characters and become stronger and stronger as the film progresses. However, I think Director Timothy Hutton (Best Supporting Actor for Ordinary People in 1980) might have profited by re-shooting some of the earlier scenes.

It is interesting to compare Bacon's performance with that of other actors who have attempted to play mentally retarded or mentally challenged characters--I'm thinking here of Dustin Hoffman in The Rain Man (1988) and Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade (1996). Dustin Hoffman was of course something close to brilliant in his Academy Award winning role. He had a charming script, and because he played alongside Tom Cruise he benefited from not having to carry the picture by himself. This was not the case for Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade, where too much was attempted without enough help so that Thornton ended up too much in front of the camera, and that was not always to his benefit. Here Bacon is wonderfully supported not only by Miss Wood, but by Mary Stuart Masterson who plays Harriet's "sister" Gwen. Some people have criticized Masterson's performance, but I think they are reacting to her non-sympathetic character, a woman, who, as Harriet says, "should have been a nurse. She's always making some guy feel better."

I think Masterson was very subtle in a unrefined role, and touching as a woman who had a lot to learn. Also excellent and completely believable in a limited role was Marian Seldes as Ricky's mother.

I was surprised that such an original and deeply lived script was not adapted from a novel. No writer could have just dreamed up this story. It had to have been lived in some sense. (Part of it was dreamed up of course.) So I guess, Karen Janszen, who wrote the script must have lived it. At any rate, she is to be commended for such an original conception. The setting in North Carolina at a rural motel ("Mom won it in a divorce"), and the three who ran "Mac's Indian Cabins" was perfect for the tale. Her celebration of the spirit of a ten-year-old who thinks she can dig to China was precious and warm. Some of the lines were so perfect. I am thinking of Harriet's voice over after it is revealed that she and Ricky "got married" (baptized is more like it!). The ten-year-old says, "Gwen was mostly upset cause I got married before her."

Revealing movie

[Mike-DD · 9/10 · 21 August 2000]

I didn't mean the summary title to say that there'd be lots of nudity in this movie; what I meant was that this movie reveals a lot of what many people still have - a fear of the unknown. This can be seen when Gwen Frankovitz (Masterson) has to take charge of her sister Harriet (Wood ) when their mother dies, and when Harriet befriends a mentally-retarded adult (Bacon) with whom she intends to run away with. The toll of having to take care of a ten-year-old child combined with her unpreparedness for it and her relationship with her boyfriend makes for a stressful home, thus making Harriet want to leave home even more. But it is Harriet's relationship with Ricky that is the most heartwarming. Only a child like her can see through the exterior and love what's inside, which leads to some heart-tugging scenes later in the movie.

Not as deep as actually reaching China though...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 22 January 2016]

While "Digging to China" is a beautiful movie because of the story told here and because of some good performances, then I must admit that it is hardly an outstanding movie. And there are far better movies which similar stories. But with that being said, don't get me wrong, because director Timothy Hutton has still managed to piece together an enjoyable movie which does portray a touching tale.

The story in "Digging to China" is about 10 year old Harriet Frankovitz (played by Evan Rachel Wood) who is living with her alcoholic mother (played by Cathy Moriarty) and older sister Gwen (played by Mary Stuart Masterson) at a roadside Indian village themed motel. One day a sickly woman (played by Marian Seldes) needs to stay at the motel with her mentally challenged son Ricky (played by Kevin Bacon) as their car breaks down. A strong friendship forms between Harriet and the child-like Ricky.

The storyline is quite good and well-transitioned to the screen. And it is really nicely helped along by the performances of the cast in the movie.

While "Digging to China" had the potential to be a real tear jerker, it just never fully managed to get to that emotional level. It is still a nice movie though, it just didn't manage to sink that deep into the emotional level of the audience. Which was a shame, because it would have added so much more to the movie.

There were some good funny moments, some semi-sad moments and some emotional moments where you did sympathize with the characters in the movie. But it just missed that extra particular edge to be unique.

However, I believe that "Digging to China" is the type of movie that you watch once only. And once you have seen it, the movie is bagged, tagged and put back on the movie shelves, never to see the light of day again.

Terrific movie...a human interest story

[maxben · 9/10 · 18 April 1999]

Kevin Bacon was phenomenon...Evan Rachel Wood was great also. Would love to see Evan do more movies.

It's these kind of movies that hardly ever are talked about. People want junk movies with violence and mayhem.

Bravo Kevin Bacon

Unpretentious, but nice

[DogePelis2015 · 7/10 · 8 February 2021]

A hidden gem that is highly underrated; the plot is fine and Kevin Bacon's acting is decent.

I really wanted to like this movie -- but I couldn't

[JulieKelleher57 · 4/10 · 4 June 2007]

I like Kevin Bacon and Cathy Moriarty, and I love Mary Stuart Masterson, but the movie wasn't good at all. There wasn't a likable character in the picture, and the plot was nearly non-existent.

Ms. Masterson is a great actress, but she just didn't pull off the "tough girl" character. (She had similar problems with her character in THE SECOND DAY OF Christmas.) Perhaps she should avoid these characters, especially those with an obnoxious female child to play off of.

Evan Rachel Wood was unimpressive. Her character was a brat, plain and simple, and no young actress could have given Harriet any positive feelings.

In the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't even finish watching this picture. Forty-five minutes of my time is enough to waste.

This is truly an unjustly ignored sleeper.

[zesty-4 · 17 March 1999]

This is a poignant film that few moviegoers are familiar with. It is redolent of such recent works as Manny & Lo (featuring Scarlett Johanssen, the girl from Horse Whisperer) and Lawn Dogs (a decidedly darker vehicle, starring Sam Rockwell). Don't pass this one by, if you have a heart.

Escape Shelter in Place on a Harriet Balloon craft

[Tron79 · 9/10 · 6 May 2020]

All of us who are currently experiencing lock downs during this period of sheltering in place can appreciate wanting to leave and escape your current situation. This is the first review on IMDB for this movie in three years. I've watched just about everything on Netflix and Amazon by now as I'm getting close to two months of lock down amidst the Corona Virus pandemic in 2020. I'm not sure why I never found this movie before. It has Mary Stuart Masterson, who is one of my favorite actresses. I was hoping Mary Stuart Masterson had the leading role where she had the main relationship with Kevin Bacon. Even though I was disappointed for a couple minutes when I realized she wasn't the main star, I was blown away by young Evan Rachel Wood, who I realized much later was the same actress who is all grown up in Westworld!

I don't know much about the writer Karen Janszen, but my guess is she was one of those imaginative unique kids growing up. I'm almost 60. I can remember growing up that we were allowed to play outside and explore. Actually, one of my best friend's parents wouldn't even allow him to come inside during the day! We were all pushed to go outside and explore with our friends who lived in the neighborhood. Things are just not that way at all anymore. People are fearful. Now with COVID-19, children may have to avoid playing close with their friends out in the neighborhoods even more. Now it's a new world of social distancing.

I loved the scenes with Harriet just sitting on the road with a sign selling "stuff". No one was buying or paying attention, but it didn't matter. There were wonderful themes of inclusion in this movie. It also illustrated quite vividly how people can be close minded to what they don't understand. Children also can be more willing to accept and not think the worst about someone.

This movie made me have actual tears. I thought Kevin Bacon was excellent. I thought everyone was great in this movie. It's a hidden gem that will rank up with one of my favorites.

The only reason I didn't give it 10 was that I was wishing for something different to happen in the story. I appreciated the decisions by the writer, and I thought it was a good ending even though they didn't fulfill all of my wishes.

I still have the image of Harriet's amazing balloon craft she assembled to escape her situation. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to escape the stress of their lives for an hour and 43 minutes. You will be totally immersed in Harriet's world. Reality will come back soon enough, but until then I highly recommend this movie. I also hope when someone reads this review years later that they look back on history and say we made it out of this pandemic. I hope those reading in the future are living in a world where it's OK to be close again and hug each other. It's OK to go out of your home and explore with your friends without fear.

An amazingly touching story

[docsthaname · 10/10 · 8 January 2008]

Just caught this on T.V. And I have to say this movie is unlike any film I have ever watched before. I'm the kind of guy who enjoys Tarantino films. I just happened to flip the T.V on when this movie started.

We all know the plot for it. Evan Rachel Wood. What can I say? She is honestly one of the most dynamic actresses of our time. And she plays her role with such poise and commitment, that at such a young age, established herself as a truly gifted actress.

Kevin Bacon, turns in a heart warming performance as the mentally-handicapped young man. His line towards the end of the film "You like me now, but later you won't. You're going to grow up. I'm not." made me cry. And as I wrote that it was hard to do so.

This movie should be watched by every family. By every person who has a disliking for those who are different. Most people are still afraid of what they do not understand. And it is a sad truth.

This movie has spoken to me on so many levels.

Definitely a must-see.

Digging for the audience's tears

[thefan-2 · 4/10 · 3 May 1999]

I tried to love this movie. I really did. Kevin Bacon plays a cerebral palsy victim who is befriended by a 10-year-old girl whose fantasies of digging to China, flying away in a balloon, and so on, are her way of coping with a dreary existence. I admit I did fast-forward through one of the scenes in which the two of them share friendship and simple pleasures while soulful piano music plays in the background. Okay, three or four of those type scenes. Maybe nine or ten. Okay, okay, it was fourteen. But I did sit and watch most of them.

Pure innocence and beauty

[buschart · 9/10 · 17 July 2022]

I haven't seen an earnest film like this in some time. It's rare that I'm captivated and emotionally moved for the full length of a movie anymore, but this one got me. The performances were outstanding (can't imagine anyone but Evan Rachel Wood in the lead) and the overall look and feel of the film captured a certain time and youthful innocence. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and would very much recommend to those looking for something wholesome and moving.

Digging to China With Molassses

[GeoPierpont · 4/10 · 17 March 2015]

I adore Kevin, Rachel, Kathy, and Mary in anything but this film. It was extremely slow paced, with languid dialogue, an overly contrived plot and basically, difficult to watch.

I have great sympathies for disabled children, the aged and lonely, the lost and forlorn but this film did not capture a connection. Wood is extremely photogenic and portrayed a natural ability that catapulted her to current fame.

Hutton is a fine actor and was impressed he chose a difficult vehicle to wet his beak, but clearly this was over his head. The scenery exhibited pure bliss and a likely escape for many viewers. This is where the fantasy world collapses.

Riding a huge ferris wheel for the first time induced major panic as a child, but this Ricky character calmly accepts the experience vs peeing in the woods. Many anomalies in the character development, physical expressions and unlikely situations that commenced the slippery slope into "is it over yet?".

It was too hard to imagine such a disconnect with your own child, that in 10 years, she never once put her to bed or showed any affection. I could care less what time period it was or the taboos associated with behavior, this would not have occurred in the stone age.

I can only recommend for assessment of an extreme character for Bacon fans, Woods first screen appearance, and Kathy's deep resonant voice. Otherwise, skip and move onto "What's Eating Gilbert Grape".

A remarkable film

[waltjh-1 · 1 September 2003]

I was never a Kevin Bacon fan until I saw "Digging to China." His portrayal of a retarded individual was wonderful and Evelyn Rachael Wood establishes herself as a marvelous actress. This movie did not get the raves that it deserves. I would suggest that anyone who has not seen this should get a copy right away.

Honest and Refreshing

[chrissie-12 · 10/10 · 14 August 2000]

I just fell in love with this movie. The story was pure and sweet. A young girl is open to another who is different from her. That is refreshing. Letting go is also something the young girl faces. This movie is great for kids, and for adults it is reminding them the feelings and thoughts from when they were young.

An unconditional friendship

[kaylafaith · 8/10 · 1 July 2000]

Digging to China is a lovely, simple story, mainly about a young girl and her willingness to accept a man who is mentally disabled. While Kevin Bacon gives a solid and relatively convincing performance,Evan Rachel Wood shines. Not because she seems well trained or poised--just the opposite. She's amazingly natural, she could be nearly any kid. She's real. Digging to China is a great story. It seems, however, to skim the surface of many issues. There are a couple of other films that delve deeper.

For a sensitive portrayal of the "outcast-meets-outcast" type story, or simply a glimpse of age-blind friendship, see Lawn Dogs. It is a beautiful story,deep and intense and funny. It makes you THINK, which is a rare thing these days. Beautiful. And for an honest portrayal of someone who is mentally disabled, see What's Eating Gilbert Grape? This one is full of amazing performances. While the two films above may not be as kid-friendly as DTC, they're well worth seeing. Give Digging to China a good look. Or you might be "one big sad monster."

COULD not PASS TODAY'S pc standards

[PerryW · 3/10 · 21 August 2022]

Well let's see an adult man alone with a 10 yr old girl even f he is well different!! Liberals would be all over that for the "possibilities!!" So glad they could make movies without people's dirty minds in those days!!

whooo

[JFox · 10/10 · 6 October 1998]

even though at first I thought it was going to be about some Chinese people digging a hole (no I didn't know anything about it before seeing it, so sue me) it's not and it's really a good movie, even if you don't particularly like Kevin Bacon (not that I don't...I just don't worship the man) because he plays a retarded man and it's hard to tell he's really kevin....so, I like the movie, yeah.