Truly Dreadful Film

Sadly Over-hyped

Best movie ever!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

We see a lot of nice, beautiful, adrenalin rush, horror, on the screen, these days, but not a lot of thought provoking pseudo docudrama. This story parallels social attitudes, during a period in which our parents lived, when a kid wasn't bottle-fed information, about everything, via movies, TV, & the Internet.This movie isn't just about abuse of a child, but the struggles of the unlearned adult poor, "just making it", in every quarter, of the United States, during the '40s. I've enjoyed J. Leigh for a good many years, & found her up to par, in this movie. I'm gaining a tremendous respect, for the abilities of Miss Malone. I just watched, last night, another of her efforts, "The Ballad of Lucy ????" last night. I recommend this film, even for a minor (with parent present for questions).Ted Luster

This is an often shocking but necessary film about a young girl called Bone and the abuse she suffers at the hands of her stepfather, Daddy Glen. The film is hard to watch at times but there are lighter moments when Bone's extended family are on screen. The book contains a much wider scope and naturally many of these subplots didn't make it into the screenplay. Ultimately, the film feels a little rushed and could have benefited from another half hour or so.The quality of the acting is patchy. Lyle Lovett's delivery of his few lines of dialogue is very wooden compared to Michael Rooker's excellent portrayal of gentle giant Earl. Jena Malone does a brilliant job in obviously difficult circumstances as young Bone. The look in her eyes breaks your heart whenever things are about to turn violent, making you want to rescue her yourself. Jennifer Jason Leigh is fine as Bone's mother but you feel like you never really get to see beneath the surface of her determined expression to understand her motives for standing by her man in the face of Glen's obvious resentment of her daughter.Ron Eldard is excellent in his depiction Glen, expertly capturing the character's pathetic childishness behind those icy blue eyes. Eldard often seems to play characters with a dark side and this role plays to his strengths, even if his southern accent slips from time to time. His scenes of violence with Bone are harrowing to watch and you can't help but feel uncomfortable, given the age of Jena Malone at the time. I know it's 'only acting' but the scenes are very realistic and graphic for a young actress to endure.The film is one that ought to be shown to any single mother tempted to jump into a relationship with a hot-headed young man with questionable intentions.

I saw this on Movie Central one cold, Greg day and I have never been able to forget it. Ron Eldard is completely believable in his performance, and will both captivate and horrify you. All the characters in this movie have such a subtlety to them. Houston's directorial debut enhances the performances of these talented actors. You know there is love, of a kind, between the family members. Yet one of the most compelling aspects to this movie is the flat and joyless undertone to the characters. Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh) stands out in her family because she is an emotional firecracker - her emotions are almost a separate character from that of Anney Boatwright. Special mention must go to Jena Malone for her sophisticated, passionate portrayal of Anney's young daughter, 'Bone'. Bone carries the weight of her mother's world on her shoulders. This is her first major role to speak of and she carries the movie effortlessly.

I saw this on Lifetime a few nights ago. It tells the story of a young girl born to an unwed mother into a family that society would classify as "white trash" who becomes the target of her stepfather's wrath and inappropriate attentions.The story itself is, of course, extremely upsetting. Tales of child abuse always are, and the abuse was pretty violent. It was, however, very well acted. Jena Malone did an awesome job as "Bone", the young victim. Ron Eldard managed to really make you hate him. One minute he is vicious and violent toward Bone, the next he is whining and sobbing pathetically to his wife (her mother) that he can't live without her. Most of the rest of the cast did an pretty good job as well.In spite of being well told and acted, it was in many ways infuriating. Anney, Bone's mother, was willing to let her child be abused or ship her off to relatives rather than kick out the scumbag. And Bone's large extended family was very loving toward her and DID try to provide her with a safe haven when things got bad but one aunt sent her back knowing she was being molested and one refused to tell the sheriff what had happened after the child ended up in the hospital after a beating and rape attempt. Given a choice between an innocent child and their sister (Bone's mother) who was too stupid to dump her loser and abuser husband, they picked their sister. Sad and pathetic. One wonders how many kids in the real world find themselves in Bone's position...at the mercy of adults who don't have the guts to do what is right.