Fairhaven (2012)
Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 16
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 145
Movie Info
A former high school football star and one time college athlete, Jon has landed back in the place of his youth - Fairhaven - a small fishing village on the Massachusetts coast. Now in his mid thirties, and with the promise of younger days seemingly washed ashore, Jon's vague feelings of dissatisfaction are crystallized by a television interview with his football hero Tom Brady, who proclaims that, even after three super bowl wins, "There's got to be something more than this." (c) Official Site
Jan 11, 2013 Limited
Independent Pictures
- Official Site
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Cast
-
Chris Messina
Dave -
Rich Sommer
Sam -
Chris S
Jon -
Sarah Paulson
Kate -
Alexie Gilmore
Angela -
Natalie Gold
Jill -
Alicia Racine
Stacey -
Maryann Plunkett
Maddy -
Phyllis Kay
Rita -
Paul O'Brien
Gary -
Danielle Muehlen
Jenny -
Tim Haber
Chet -
Ted Reinstein
Steve -
Grace Collins
Cara -
Donna O'Brien
Mrs. Drake
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All Critics (16) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (7)
Personal tenderness combines with a good sense of composition and a naturalistic storytelling style to give a small, familiar premise a nice lilt.
Top CriticThe cliché-infested script ... is long on booze-filled confessions.
While there's something undeniably fascinating about the way "Fairhaven" repeatedly avoids predictable payoffs for portentous dramatic setups, narrative momentum is conspicuous by its absence.
[A] beautifully acted, directed and edited little slice of New England life ...
O'Brien and his castmates seem to play loose with his script a bit more than they should in an effort to give the material a lived-in feeling.
It has a nuance and a rumpled comfort with itself, which turns "Fairhaven" into an inviting place to visit.
It's difficult to dislike Fairhaven, because it is a promising, earnest effort.
Tom O'Brien smartly stresses realistic, submerged feelings instead of overwrought dramatics in his low-key portrait of friendship and all its complications.
Great visuals, chemistry.
"Not overwritten" can easily shade into "underwritten," which is the case with Fairhaven.
The film plays coy with its quintessential indie-dramedy setup, eschewing narrative and tension in favor of convivial character interplay and master shots of wintry landscapes.
With Fairhaven, O'Brien makes an understated, confident entrée into feature filmmaking, mining male relationships to poignant effect in his ... debut.
Audience Reviews for Fairhaven
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Jon, a former high school football star returns home to the small fishing village of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He was an arrogant, useless jerk in high school, and returns a failed, arrogant, useless jerk.
We start with layer upon layer of cliché. Will there be any evolution, or is this just another fouled up, self-regarding 'feel bad comedy'?
Dave is back from Arizona to talk to old friends and catch up with his mother.
Jon is trying to get into something new, perhaps writing. He arranges to quit his fishing job as soon as he can find a replacement. He's in two kinds of therapy.
The obligatory drunken barroom and getting high scenes are just as boring as one might expect. Jon, Dave, and Sam are not any better at it than any one else.
Sam has stayed in Fairhaven (as opposed to Jon and Dave), has gotten married, had a daughter, got a divorce, and dealt with the break up. Nobody seems to be any happier than anyone else.
The funeral for Dave's father was nicely awkward.
The ending was flat, rather like the rest of the film.
Scores
Cinematography: 10/10 Exceptionally lovely shooting, especially the exteriors. Depth of field is shallow for the interiors to isolate the character to focus on, showing a nice level of control. Framing and color saturation are great.
Sound: 8/10 Occasionally the music was blaring.
Acting: 4/10 The performances are all too often from the 'smile, show how cool you are' school of non-involvement. Boring, non-engaging.
Screenplay: 4/10 Stupid premise, bad execution, boring; not aided by immature actors.