Bluebird (I) (2013) User Reviews

The subdued aura presents an Oscar-caliber turn by Amy Morton...

[ClaytonDavis · 5/10 · 22 April 2013]

Debut writer/director Lance Edmands puts an admirable touch on his film Bluebird starring John Slattery and Amy Morton. The story and overall aura of the film feels more in line with films like Winter's Bone (2010) and The Sweet Hereafter (1997) but lacking the emotional punch needed to grab the audience fully. Ultimately the film explores many of its central characters in an interesting manner but leaves many questions unanswered and not in the indie-flair way that can still feel satisfying. It's the powerful performance of Amy Morton and the efforts of the rest of the cast that gives the film any lasting impression.

The film takes place in the frozen woods of a small Maine town. After Lesley (Morton) makes a tragic mistake that shatters the balance of the community, not even her husband Richard (Slattery) or her daughter Paula (Emily Meade), can rid her of the overbearing guilt that has taken over. As multiple stories take place including that of Marla (Louisa Krause), Crystal (Margo Martindale), and young Owen (Quinn Bard), all of their lives become connected in a way none of them could have imagined, perhaps forever.

Where Edmands succeeds brilliantly is in capturing the essence of a small, American town full of authentic and genuine characters that feel profoundly real. Working as an editor on Tiny Furniture (2010), the film that helped Hollywood discover HBO's "Girls" writer and star Lena Dunham, Edmands keeps a consistent tone that feels cold and convincing. However, the film never fully takes off for the emotional connection to fully take place with the central characters. The cinematography by Jody Lee Lipes creates a sensational atmosphere that falls in line with Debra Granik's Winter's Bone.

As aforementioned, Amy Morton is a true revelation, delivering her finest acting performance of her career. Morton, a wonderful character actress, is probably best remembered as Thomas Ian Nicholas' mother in the 90s hit Rookie of the Year (1993) and George Clooney's disgruntled sister in Up in the Air (2009). She manages to step into her own fierce abilities as an actress that feels much like Melissa Leo's Oscar- nominated turn in Frozen River (2008). Morton is aware of her surroundings but she gets completely lost in Lesley and becomes the epicenter of sentiment. She's best-in-show and the main take away for the film's slow roast to a finale that feels unsettled and unfocused.

Slattery takes a full swing at the ball but ultimately comes up short due to being overshadowed by his co-star and having a character to portray that the audience never fully understands. Great actors like Margo Martindale and Adam Driver are fine but completely wasted and don't have enough to contribute. As Marla, Louisa Krause has the most controversial player to represent but doesn't manage to get to the next level of ferocity. Played somewhat like Naomi Watts in 21 Grams (2003), the character begins to build but fails to emote a trait that feels believable. Granted, the character is meant to be hated and completely unsympathetic but the screenplay lacks insight into the motivation behind her point of view.

If anyone enjoys a leisured look into an American town where emotions are not expressed except in tears and faces, Bluebird might work for many. Losing steam in the middle, the film never fully recovers and leaves you ultimately unsatisfied.

Oscar CHANCES: Amy Morton for Lead Actress

Read More at The Awards Circuit (http://www.awardscircuit.com)

Slow but atmospheric

[lordtracker · 5/10 · 26 November 2015]

Not all great films are full of explosions or fight scenes, and this one is not meant to be. Having spent many years living in that part of Maine, I can tell you this film does more to portray the feel of both small-town life and the slow-plodding drudge of a Maine winter than any other film I've yet seen. While I do love Steven King, this is NOT a film for fans of his movies, but people who love his descriptions of the land, the life, and the feel of Maine will either love it, or at least relate to it in some way. Slow paced and atmospheric, the film portrays the inevitable interweaving of lives in a town surrounded by vast wilderness, as well as conveying the oppressiveness of that wilderness itself. A Maine winter is nothing to fool with, (and neither is an old Mainer.)

Really, really, really nothing remotely like resolution

[BibChr · 5/10 · 28 April 2015]

I only give it five because of the acting.

All those who love this movie praise the acting, the real-snatch-of- life feel, the unhurriedness... It has all that. And indeed, the lead actress (Amy Morton) is a study in naturalness and subtlety.

You hold out, through all the slow, deliberate pacing, expecting some sort of resolution. But there is none.

Zero of the several threads started is resolved. The daughter, the shiftless mother, the comatose boy, the distant husband; the causes, the effects. Nothing comes to a repose.

If you prefer movies that come to SOME kind of a resolution, a final punctuation-mark, then don't hold out through this one, as I did.

On the other hand, if you love irresolution, then

Life in a small village

[salgo60 · 7/10 · 9 November 2013]

SPOILER As the trailer tells us something is happening in the small village that will change the life for the main character. The movie has a nice footage and are approaching the story in a nice slow pace so that we get a good understanding of the day to day life. In the movie everything is presented in an linear way and we will never get to know what is happening when the camera is turned off. The ending is open ended and as an answer on the face to face session the director explained he had a lot of different endings but selected this one as the story will continue and we don't know what is happening. The most important part is not the ending it is that people has started to communicate with each other.

I feel that this communication part is very important and is also essential to get a working society. A society where you involve lawyers(not usually in Sweden) is a crazy society where you miss that we all are humans. So when I got this message of the movie explained I really liked the story and the movie BUT without listening Lance Edmands I feel I should have missed this message...

That I firsted missed this essential message makes that the movie doesn't get a higher rating. It is well played and the actors are excellent but I miss that the importance of communicating is more obvious.

Mesmerizing drama shot on 35mm

[millerian-55 · 7/10 · 6 March 2024]

One of those understated dramas that come out and no one sees them, but I think there are approximately 100 on this list alone. Fantastic set of performances from a series of "I know them" actors, who you've seen in something but just can't nail down their names. Amy Morton plays the lead and like usual she is fantastic, a character actor who is finally given the chance to shine as a bus driver who forgets a young kid on a bus, who then freezes to death. Fantastic use of 35mm to create such a dusk atmosphere, Edmands has a wonderful sense of control and uses the whites of the snow to make the landscapes seem endless. A very wonderfully smart screenplay combined with smart direction, each scene plays out for the actors to take control, and creates an acting showcase. Very subtle and very dark, depressing but remarkably beautiful in the way the characters form.

A small town drama that fails to sparkle

[MattyGibbs · 4/10 · 2 January 2017]

A female bus driver makes an error of judgement that has bad consequences for those near to her.

This sounded quite promising but unfortunately it lacks any impact and just meanders along to it's desperately forgettable conclusion. I found that it was difficult at times to understand what was being said as everyone just seemed to mumble. I know it is supposed to be a character study but even those films need something to happen occasionally throughout the film. Literally nothing happens at all.

The acting is adequate but there are no stand out performances which films of this type really need to excel.

This is a drab and depressing film with only the great scenery to add any light relief. The ending is abrupt and you just wonder what was the point of it all.

This is a very disappointing film that really isn't worth watching.

A frustrating film that does nothing and goes nowhere

[jimbo-53-186511 · 1/10 · 3 December 2016]

Here is Sky Movies plot summary for this film;

"During a freezing cold winter in Maine, a lapse in concentration has devastating consequences for a school bus driver."

Now perhaps it's just me but based on this summary I expected it to possibly be about a bus driver losing control of the bus in the icy conditions and being responsible for deaths or injuries to the school children. Alternatively, it could have been about a bus driver being distracted or falling asleep at the wheel and knocking down a child. Either of these scenarios would have at least been plausible and/or almost certainly would have been made the film more interesting or engaging.

Instead of this we get a film focusing on a bus driver failing to notice a child on her bus and locking the bus up and leaving the child on the bus during the freezing conditions (which results in the child suffering from severe hyperthermia and being hospitalised). The scenario itself seems far-fetched, but I can suspend some disbelief with films if I feel as though they have something profound to say, but you get none of that here.

For the most part, you just have several people moping around feeling sorry for themselves, but the various conversations never really amount to much and the whole film is just a depressing affair from start to finish. Although the mother of the child is concerned for her child she actually seems more concerned with how she can profit from her child's misfortune which, at times, gives the film a mean-spirited and hard-edged feel which didn't really feel necessary.

The performances from the principal cast are as dreary as the film itself and I honestly couldn't think of one single person who stood out in this depressing dreck.

The boy's family get a solicitor involved (which could have made the narrative more interesting), but this thread isn't developed properly and never really goes anywhere. In fact, the sad thing is that if the 'legal' angle had been developed better it might have actually made a half-decent 'legal drama.'

I believe that Bluebird was intended as a hard-hitting look at the negligence of others and the consequences brought upon by such negligence and complacency. However, it isn't a particularly insightful film, and one that never really develops its own plot line. It's also depressing, miserable and boring. The abrupt ending is also unsatisfying and just plain lazy. You won't be missing much by skipping this one.

Surprising well made Indie film

[linuxford · 8/10 · 7 May 2015]

This movie has your typical well-made Indie feel as far as the plot and the film quality. The characters and the acting choices made were realistic and good all-around solid acting from all the characters. Many of the actors did a superb job, and expect to see them in some upcoming films that involve bigger budgets and production.

It has an slow-moving story line that gives plenty of time to develop many of the characters. This Indie delivers, as many do, a slice of life. There is nothing too risky or pushing the envelope, just a solid piece of work that all involved delivered and unashamedly can add to their resume.

Wonderfully bleak and grim

[cekadah · 9/10 · 22 March 2015]

If you want to watch this film (and I hope you do) prepare yourself for a very depressing story, in a very bleak town, at a hostile time of year.

Everything that happens in this story is cold, dour, sullen. A child is near death due to the unintentional negligence of a very conscientious woman. She suffers emotionally, her family suffers, and the mother of the dying child is forced to reevaluate her own life.

We are given by director/writer Lance Edmands a story you cannot stop watching because you become involved with each character and you care. You will just want to know whats going to happen.

Some may find the ending empty. But I think it's a perfect place to conclude this film because there is no finality to daily living.

Good Little Slice Of Small Town Americana...

[MovieHoliks · 8/10 · 22 June 2015]

I just saw this great little indie flick off Netflix the other day. Set in a small Maine logging town, the film intertwines multiple story lines, all centering around a school bus driver (Amy Morton) who makes a fatal mistake, and the ensuing repercussions. Her hubbie (John Slattery, "Mad Men") is on the verge of losing his job, and her daughter is up to no good- possibly tinkering with teenage pregnancy.

I noticed with this film that, along with a lot of good oldies tunes being used (like from the '50s and '60s), you don't see any cell phones. This creates this sorta timeless small town Americana mystique. That AND being set in a heavy winter kinda soaks up the atmosphere and creates a haunting silence. I really enjoyed this film, in fact it's one of those little movies that when it comes to an end, you don't want it to... Adam Driver (of the upcoming new "Star Wars" movie) co-stars.