Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, and music icon Dave Matthews star in this tale of an estranged mother and son who reluctantly come together in hopes of saving their home. Maggie (Spacek) and Billy (Garity) are a desperate mother and damaged son who went their separate ways following a long-ago tragedy. South African-born singer/songwriter Matthews portrays a drug dealer willing to harm anyone keeping him from recovering cocaine that was stolen from him by Billy's troubled wife. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
With all the high-profile movies blasting into theaters at this time of year, Lake City will probably get lost in the shuffle. That won't be a tragedy.
When Hill and Moore leave story and characters behind to veer off into suspenseless chases through cornfields, one wonders if the era of earnest American drama may be coming to a close.
Mother and son have an uneasy bond that should be familiar to anyone who has ever seen a movie in which a child's room has been preserved and locked tight.
An intermittently admirable but largely incongruous work that suggests not only divergent sensibilities on the part of the two neophyte filmmakers, but a certain indecisiveness regarding their core audience.
The movie has an earnest tone, and a burnished golden glow that's pleasing to the eye, but the characters have no life beyond their immediate problems, and the actions the plot requires them to take to resolve them.
All of these movies uneasily coexist under the umbrella title of Lake City, which is a shame because Sissy Spacek can be found wasting a genuinely affecting performance in this mess.
The real shame is the waste of Spacek. She's an American treasure who doesn't work nearly enough; to see this star make a rare appearance, only to wither among such emotional cheap shots, is the one thing in Lake City that will genuinely make you weep.
Sissy and Troy are good but the screenplay is rather scattered not leaving them with much to work with although they do have one good emotional scene.
March 15, 2009
jay nixon
Super Reviewer
Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity, and music icon Dave Matthews star in this tale of an estranged mother and son who reluctantly come together in hopes of saving their home. Maggie (Spacek) and Billy (Garity) are a desperate mother and damaged son who went their separate ways following a long-ago tragedy. South African-born
singer/songwriter Matthews portrays a drug dealer willing to harm anyone keeping him from recovering cocaine that was stolen from him by Billy's troubled wife. Lake City is a powerful film, well made, well cast and well scripted. The direction is remarkable and the acting is fabulous. Each actor comes across very natural and the characters are very believable....at many times, it is almost like watching a real life situation. The director's have dealt with the story in a very special manner, and still maintaining the fine balance between the feelings of love, anger, rage, guilt, and compassion. The mother and son relationship is the best that has ever been able to portray. It a must to see film. Nice.4 stars
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