On a superficial level "The Stone Boy" could be seen almost as "Ordinary People" but on a rural setting. Trade the accidental drowning for a
hunting accident but again we have an exemplary older brother dying and leaving a younger one feeling the pains of it all, and again each member of
the family tries to cope with themselves during grief and afterwards. Extend the number of family members, add a series of situations, and remove
the shrink character and you have a confusing and emotionally drained film that somehow hits some right notes. You can learn from it, specially if
paying attention to all the mistakes the characters make throughout the picture.
Jason Presson is Arnold, the boy from the title, and he enters into a very withdrawn and quiet mode after accidentally shooting his older brother during a duck hunting. Then we have the parents, where the mother (Glenn Close) tries to console him in her careful way as the father (Robert Duvall) just avoids him, prefering to leave the boy spend some time with his grandfather (Wilford Brimley). The little sister facing her early teens is unimportant, for them and for us as we don't get to see any personal crisis of hers. And if those folks weren't enough, there's the uncle (Frederic Forrest), who cheates on his pregnant wife while consoling the dead man's girlfriend and he blames the infidelity on poor Arnold.
Lots of people around yet Arnold's is all alone. It's no mystery why he doesn't talk much with anyone or even why it takes some time before he finally break down and cry. The hardness of that rural environment keeps everybody at a certain sense of composure that they have to endure everything. Everybody's all emotional unavailable except when there's some conflict involved, and deep down they would leave that house, that town and go find themselves somewhere else, apart from everything and everyone they know. They can't find ways of dealing with themselves.
But there's some comfort. The best scenes of "The Stone Boy" revolved on Arnold and his grandfather. Most people see those things happening in reality and most movies as well, about the generational arc that skips the parents and unites the oldest with the youngest in amazing ways.
They connect just fine and that's where you see the most tender and most comprehensive parts of the story where you end up caring for them, and ignoring everyone else. The duo can count on each other while the rest are trying and failing to keep a family together. It gets to such a critical point that a total stranger (Linda Hamilton) becomes a helpful listener to Arnold's pain - best scene in the movie, I think.
It's not much of a heartwarming film, neither a painfully depressive one. It swings between those modes but not entirely to the point of causing some pain or bringing some tears - the characters are so detached at times that for a while you're not invested on them. I brought "Ordinary People" to the discussion for a reason, specially if we consider the one character who tried to mend things for the depressed teen yet there's none similar in here: the psychatrist. Obvious that Arnold's case should be accompanied by a therapist, even someone in the field should attend his questioning by the police (a terrible scene that might look unbelievable to some). How on earth those parents feel they can solve everything with distancing and controlling/supression of emotions. It happens, I know, and perhaps one of the reasons the film doesn't flunk is because seeing a different and unusual perspective one can see the validation (or not) of those parents approach in dealing with grief, loss and getting back to some normalcy.
A fine cast was assembled by Christopher Cain, with some nice performances but seeing young Presson and veteran Brimley together was one of those sparkling moments that elevated the film's quality to a memorable degree. I might forget the picture, but I won't forget their scenes. 6/10.
Jason Presson is Arnold, the boy from the title, and he enters into a very withdrawn and quiet mode after accidentally shooting his older brother during a duck hunting. Then we have the parents, where the mother (Glenn Close) tries to console him in her careful way as the father (Robert Duvall) just avoids him, prefering to leave the boy spend some time with his grandfather (Wilford Brimley). The little sister facing her early teens is unimportant, for them and for us as we don't get to see any personal crisis of hers. And if those folks weren't enough, there's the uncle (Frederic Forrest), who cheates on his pregnant wife while consoling the dead man's girlfriend and he blames the infidelity on poor Arnold.
Lots of people around yet Arnold's is all alone. It's no mystery why he doesn't talk much with anyone or even why it takes some time before he finally break down and cry. The hardness of that rural environment keeps everybody at a certain sense of composure that they have to endure everything. Everybody's all emotional unavailable except when there's some conflict involved, and deep down they would leave that house, that town and go find themselves somewhere else, apart from everything and everyone they know. They can't find ways of dealing with themselves.
But there's some comfort. The best scenes of "The Stone Boy" revolved on Arnold and his grandfather. Most people see those things happening in reality and most movies as well, about the generational arc that skips the parents and unites the oldest with the youngest in amazing ways.
They connect just fine and that's where you see the most tender and most comprehensive parts of the story where you end up caring for them, and ignoring everyone else. The duo can count on each other while the rest are trying and failing to keep a family together. It gets to such a critical point that a total stranger (Linda Hamilton) becomes a helpful listener to Arnold's pain - best scene in the movie, I think.
It's not much of a heartwarming film, neither a painfully depressive one. It swings between those modes but not entirely to the point of causing some pain or bringing some tears - the characters are so detached at times that for a while you're not invested on them. I brought "Ordinary People" to the discussion for a reason, specially if we consider the one character who tried to mend things for the depressed teen yet there's none similar in here: the psychatrist. Obvious that Arnold's case should be accompanied by a therapist, even someone in the field should attend his questioning by the police (a terrible scene that might look unbelievable to some). How on earth those parents feel they can solve everything with distancing and controlling/supression of emotions. It happens, I know, and perhaps one of the reasons the film doesn't flunk is because seeing a different and unusual perspective one can see the validation (or not) of those parents approach in dealing with grief, loss and getting back to some normalcy.
A fine cast was assembled by Christopher Cain, with some nice performances but seeing young Presson and veteran Brimley together was one of those sparkling moments that elevated the film's quality to a memorable degree. I might forget the picture, but I won't forget their scenes. 6/10.