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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Bernee
Stars: Heather Horton, Buddy Farler, Alicia Ridley, Jenson Goins, Chris Whitsett, Lee Vervoort, Bethany Hoppe, and Deanna Glasser Director/Scriptwriter: Jon Russell Cring Composer: Janet Clazzy Extraordinary (F 3) Films Rating: Not rated but could be PG 13 Running Length: 113 minutes Web site: www.berneethemovie.com Did you think your life was one melodrama after another? Think again, because Heather Horton as Bernee, lives the life of a single mother, who is a waitress at Jib’s Diner and has enough comments about everyone’s life to write for a soap opera. Bernee is part of Extraordinary Films project of doing twelve feature-length films in twelve months. For more information, visit their web site at www.extraordinaryfilmproject.com. Bernee opens with her life as a waitress at Jib’s Diner. (By the way, be sure to spell her name right. It's with two "ee's" at the end of Bernee.) Jib is played by Buddy Farler (looking for all the world like John Lithgow), who really can’t cook and tries one get-rich scheme after another. Bernee’s teenage daughter is Terabeth (Jenson Goins) who attends the local Pentecostal church and there meets a singer, Sister C (Alicia Ridley.) Bernee barely makes ends meet, but has to take time to visit Terabeth’s school (the teen is going overboard with religion) or visit the church with her daughter. This results in a confrontation with the woman minister (Deanna Glasser). If that weren’t enough, Jib wants Bernee to invest in his latest scheme, fake marijuana (don’t ask), a deputy (Chris Whitsett) wants to date Bernee, and Sister C decides to move in with Bernee and Terabeth, oh, yes, did I mention that Bernee’s former husband is now back in town and wants joint custody of Terabeth? All in a day’s work. The problem with Bernee is that there are so many things going on, anyone one of which could have made a separate film script. Topics include being a single mother, being a waitress, hand surgery, homosexuality, get rich schemes, dating and attending a church you are not comfortable with. Your head starts spinning as Bernee goes from one episode to another. The story of Jib’s latest money-making scheme is hilarious and you would have liked to have seen it go further. The same with Bernee and Terabeth’s behavior at school, however, just when it got interesting, we bounced to another situation. The beginning scene of Bernee back on the job at the diner is weak. Heather Horton as Bernee dominates the scene, while the other actors fade. The same with the scene of Bernee’s husband coming back after a long absence. Horton is the dominating presence. Throughout the film, there are moments of witty dialogue such as Bernee's comment about Sister C (Alicia Ridley). "She is weird sometimes, the rest of the time she was practicing." Or, Deputy Martin bringing lip balm on a date because he thought he might get lucky and get a kiss. After a make-out session with the Deputy in the back of the patrol car complete with wire fence between front and back seats, Bernee leaves for her home muttering, “From one cage to another.” Bernee aptly expressed what I felt watching scene after scene of her trials and tribulations. Heather Horton does one-liners well and her dialogue is crisp, the same with Buddy Farler. It’s when you add other actors that the difference in experience shows. Bernee plays as a compressed sitcom trying to cover too much territory. Copyright 2007 Marie Asner
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