Cavedweller (2004)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Lisa Cholodenko

Writers (WGA):

Dorothy Allison (novel)
Anne Meredith (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

A traumatic event sends a musician (Sedgwick) back to her hometown in an effort to reunite with the daughters she abandoned. To do so, she must confront her abusive ex-husband (Quinn), from whom she fled years ago. |

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Husband Wife Relationship | Car Accident | Friendship | Car Mechanic

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Kyra Sedgwick	...	Delia Byrd
Aidan Quinn	...	Clint Windsor
Sherilyn Fenn	...	M.T.
Jill Scott	...	Rosemary
Regan Arnold	...	Cissy Pritchard
Vanessa Zima	...	Amanda Windsor
Jackie Burroughs	...	Grandma Windsor
April Mullen	...	Dede
Dan Lett	...	Reverend Hillman
Myron Natwick	...	Granddaddy Byrd
Kevin Bacon	...	Randall Pritchard
Anne Holloway	...	Mrs. Crane
Mat Langford	...	Lester
Jon Langford	...	Herman (as Jonathan Langford)
Barry Walsh	...	Pete

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

USA:101 min (Tribeca Film Festival)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | UK:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cayuga, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Cavedweller Productions Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Best That I Can

Georgia on my mind

Dorothy Allison's excellent novel "Cavedweller" is the source of this film of the same title. Ms. Allison's novels are about real people going through tough times in their lives. This movie was adapted by Anne Meredith from the massive novel and the essence of it comes across under the sure direction of Lisa Cholodenko. Ms. Cholodenko's other films show she has an affinity to present characters that are always at crossroads of their lives.

This film though, owes a great deal to the courageous performance of Kyra Sedgwick, who gets under the skin of Delia to show us what makes this woman ticks. We see Delia at the beginning in a desolated beach in Los Angeles. She is lost in thought, but evidently, at that moment she has made up her mind to make amends to her past. When she gets home she decides to leave everything behind and go to Georgia with Cissy, her youngest daughter.

In flashbacks we get to see Delia's life go through her mind. We learn about the abusive husband, Clint. Also, we witness her betrayal to him and how she leaves her two young daughters for a musician, Randall. Their attraction is all physical; Randall is a man who can't be true to any woman, or remain in a loving relationship.

Delia shows her courage in going back to the small town where everyone knows what she did. Her taciturn father takes her in, reluctantly. She goes to see her two daughters, who by now are teen agers; they reject her, as well as the paternal grandmother. But it's Clint, the dying man she left behind, the one that is able to reunite Delia with her daughters. It takes a lot for anyone to go back to that situation and Delia shows she is a woman that can see now where she went wrong, if only a bit late.

The acting is first rate. Ms. Sedgwick, as Delia, has the best opportunity. Young Regan Arnold gives an amazing performance as Cissy, the younger daughter who is too wise for her young age. Aidan Quinn, as Clint, has good moments, but of course, the men in this movie are secondary characters. Kevin Bacon is seen in flashbacks and has little to do. Jackie Burrows, as the grandmother shows us a woman consumed in her hatred of Delia. Vanessa Zima plays Amanda, the oldest daughter who has turned to religion to compensate by what her young mind can't comprehend.

This is not a film for everybody. Watch it because Kyra Sedgwick deserves to be seen and because it's a story that is original and unique in that is so anti Hollywood, made by a rising voice in film directing: Lisa Cholodenko.