A Painted House (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Alfonso Arau

Writers:

Patrick Sheane Duncan (teleplay)
John Grisham (novel)

Release Date:

27 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Drama

Tagline:

Desperate Times, hard truths, unexpected dangers. One extraordinary summer will change a young boy and his family...forever.

Plot:

A young boy, his family, and the migrant workers they hire to work their cotton farm struggle against difficult odds to raise and sell the crop...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Scott Glenn	...	Eli 'Pappy' Chandler
Arija Bareikis	...	Kathleen Chandler
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Jesse Chandler
Melinda Dillon	...	Gran Chandler
Logan Lerman	...	Luke Chandler
Audrey Marie Anderson	...	Tally Spruill
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Mr. Spruill
Pablo Schreiber	...	Hank Spruill
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Stick Peters
Luis Garcia	...	Cowboy (as Luis Esteban Garcia)
Miguel Pérez	...	Miguel
Diane Delano	...	Mrs. Spruill
Luke Eberl	...	Trot Spruill
Sean Jones	...	Bo Spruill
Richard Crowe	...	Mr. Latcher

Also Known As:

John Grisham's A Painted House (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:120 min (including commercials) | Brazil:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Clarkedale, Arkansas, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

The church used for the Sunday church scene in the movie was donated by the film crew to a small church in Crittenden County, Arkansas. The church used in the movie still stands and is being used every Sunday. A large sign in the yard depicts it as the church used in the movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the soda fountain worker give the customer a fountain drink, the seltzer from the spigot comes out brown. Seltzer is clear. All fountain drinks, including Coca Cola, required a squirt of flavored syrup then the cup was held under the fountain spigot. The clerk would push the handle back for a pressurized squirt to mix the clear seltzer and syrup then would pull the handle forward to fill the glass.

Where did this movie go?

I was very engaged with the movie (or story)...Up to a point. I was very upset with the fact that they spent a fair time setting up a growing problem (which you could sense), then introducing the problem (the murder), then abandoning it, and then finally restarting a new story that doesn't quite fit. WHY DO THAT?!

Like I said, I was totally engaged...Up to a point. And this is when everything went downhill!

On the plus side, there was good acting. But I believe even if you do have good acting-if your plot isn't convincing (or doesn't make sense), then the audience won't focus on that, and therefore your acting isn't as significant.

There are very few films that go off on a tangent (and that's a good thing), but when movies like, "A Painted House" and "Jeepers Creepers", do it (or I suppose any movie that does it), I can't help but lose interest, and become disappointed with it.