Accidents Happen (DVD Review)

Dir: Andrew Lancaster - feature film directorial debut
Cast: Geena Davis, Harrison Gilbertson, Harry Cook, Joel Tobeck, Sebastian Gregory
UK/Australia, 2009

Reason to see: Geena Davis is a quirky comedy was something that I had to see.

The Conway family appears to be well out of any luck possible as they are prone to accident upon accident in Accidents Happen. Geena Davis as Gloria, the family matriarch, a character we'd expect to hold the family all together but she's actually abrasive and highly liberal in using colourful language that made my eyes widen more than once. All in front of the kids, of course, and in times of challenge and sorrow. This is actually a refreshing way to look at change and loss though, through dark comedy and at times hearing people voice what they actually think as oppose to being polite and saying all the right things, which the film has it's fair share does of as well.

Although I loved seeing Geena Davis and she's a true stand out and certainly has her own journey here, the film actually follows her youngest and 'the responsible one' of the sons, Billy played by Harrison Gilbertson. Billy is unlucky a lot in the film, from being witness to terrible events in, around and outside his family, and although he's subject to all of this somehow he's suppose to hold things together and be 'normal', when clearly no one else is. But, he's also a kid and all kids get into mischief and he certainly does with his brothers friend Doug (Sebastian Gregory from Beautiful (2009)), as they begin to become two friends that get some of the craziness of life out as they share and unspoken bond from both being in broken families.

How they incorporated the literally crazy darkness of incidents with not only dark but also regular humour is pretty amazing. The film is also highly quotable, although I'm not quite sure where I'd work "If my grandmother had balls she'd be my grandfather", into everyday conversation. Could lead into some interesting ones though!

DVD Extras:

• When Accidents Happen Featurette (3 minutes) - interviews with Geena Davis, director Andrew Lancaster, producer Anthony Anderson and screenwriter Brian Carbee discussing the film.
• Glorious Gloria Featurette (2 minutes) - Geena Davis on the character of Gloria, including her use of colourful language.
• Cast & Crew Interviews (8 minutes) - brief interviews with actors Geena Davis (Gloria), Harrison Gilbertson (Billy) & Joel Tobeck (Ray), director Andrew Lancaster, producer Anthony Anderson and screenwriter Brian Carbee. Some of the interview footage is the same footage that is used in the featurettes.
• Deleted Scenes (6 minutes) - 6 extended scenes from the film.
• Teaser & Trailer

Accidents Happen is available on DVD as of August 3, 2010. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'd watch it again
I'd recommend it to drama fans who like a dose of dark comedy

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010