There’s so much to like about this movie, from the actors, to the locations, to the music and general tone, though the reviews to it are decidedly mixed. The response to it has been a bit surprising, since it’s by the same director who did Junebug, Phil Morrison, and has a very similar feel and character focus as that acclaimed but since nearly entirely forgotten 2005 movie.
All Is Bright is out now in limited release, but I’m hoping it gathers enough of an audience in the on-demand world to get the warm reception I think it deserves.
The timing of the release may be part of the issue. This is a story taking place around Christmas time—in fact, the plot revolves around two guys from Quebec played by Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd who drive down to New York to sell some authentic Canadian Christmas trees. The geography may partially explain why this movie grabbed me so much, since the familiar 401 highway is featured prominently as is the cold eastern Canadian landscape, but to be honest, I didn’t really love it until the climax, which fulfills the comparisons I was already feeling between this film and Giamatti’s Sideways and Rudd’s recent Prince Avalanche.
Add Sally Hawkins into the mix as an eastern European woman who befriends Giamatti, and there’s so much to just bask in here that I’m still a bit baffled why more noise hasn’t been made about how sweet and lovely this little movie is.
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