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I promised myself
that when I sat down to watch “Tennessee,”
I would give Mariah Carey the benefit of
the doubt. I am not much of a fan of her
music as I think she has an ‘ok’
voice, and I certainly wasn’t sold
on her performance in “Glitter.”
I thought since this movie had a better
story and director, maybe there would be
an inkling of acting talent that could be
pulled from the ‘would-be’ diva.
And I was right… it was an inkling
of talent.
“Tennessee” is one of those
‘road movies’ where characters
discover a little bit about themselves.
The main characters are Carter (Adam Rothenberg)
and Ellis (Ethan Peck), two brothers who
left the home of an abusive father years
before. But when it is discovered that Ellis
has leukemia, they set off in search of
‘Dad’ in the hopes that he might
be a good candidate for bone marrow. Along
the way, they meet Krystal (Mariah Carey),
a truck stop waitress with a dream. Discovering
that she lives with an abusive husband,
the brothers convince her to leave with
them and follow her dreams.
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I’m not going to say a lot about Mariah’s
performance here as it is initially secondary
to the story. But I have to say that as the character
of Krystal becomes more of a central figure as
the story progresses that she should have taken
a little more time in the lessons department.
Her performance is not terrible, but it lacks
the spark that is needed to make this a stronger
movie. There are moments where she comes across
a truly warm and even charming, and I applaud
her efforts in these moments. But when stronger
emotions are called for, she’s just not
quite there… yet. I say yet, because there
is noticeable improvement over her performance
in “Glitter” and I can see where she
has the ability to become a better actress. I’m
not talking Academy Award winning, but certainly
able to hold her own in smaller films.
Adam Rothenberg and Ethan Peck, on the other
hand deliver very powerful performances as the
brothers who have raised themselves most of their
lives. Ethan Peck is especially compelling as
he took on the role of the dying brother. Every
heart string is pulled when these guys take to
the screen. Unfortunately, their performances
are only as good as the written material, which
admittedly is not always that great. The film
takes a hard look at familial abuse, and it doesn’t
pull any punches (so to speak). Some of it is
kinda rough and made me uneasy witnessing families
that live like this. (Living in Texas, where spousal
abuse is an Olympic sport did not make it any
easier to watch). But it is the direction the
film takes that weakens the overall power of the
story.
The DVD for “Tennessee” comes with
a pretty decent “Making of…”
documentary. The filmmakers discuss the troubles
that come with making a low budget feature and
I have to commend them for sticking with a project
that had so many money problems.
“Tennessee” is somewhat of a downer
of a movie. There is very little to laugh about
and you have to be prepared for that. I ended
up really liking the film, in spite of some of
its weaknesses. It offers a mostly good story,
some fine performances, and is right up the alley
for anyone who enjoys films that are a little
less than uplifting.
Directed by: Aaron Woodley
Starring: Adam Rothenberg, Ethan Peck, Mariah
Carey, Lance Reddick
Extras: Road to Tennessee Documentary
Specification: Widescreen: 5.1 Stereo
Studio: Vivendi
Release Date: 1/26/2010
MPAA Rating: R
http://www.tennesseethefilm.com
We'll give Tennessee a C+.
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