UPDATE: According to Box Office Mojo October Baby had the 8th highest gross this last weekend at $1.697 million and averaged $4,352 per theater. A good start for a film that cost $1 million to make. The others in the top eight opened in a lot more theaters: from 1,787 (A Thousand Words) to 4,137 (The Hunger Games) compared to October Baby's 390 theaters. Congratulations to October Baby filmmaker brothers Jon and Andrew Erwin.
Just saw this movie. Wow! Just wow! The last movie I saw that dealt this seriously with basic human issues was Touching the Void. That was more of a documentary. This is a full fledged movie with the jumps filled in.
The movie touches on issues like wrenching choices, loss, rejection, forgiving, receiving forgiveness, love, commitment and trust. Not a bad list of major life issues.
Especially good performances are given by Rachel Hendrix (main subject), John Schneider (father), Jasmine Guy (nurse) and Shari Rigby (birth mother). So good, in fact, that I came away interested in finding out the life stories of the three secondary characters. It rarely happens that secondary characters have the depth and nuance to provoke interest in them beyond their intersection with the main point of the story. But, it happens here.
From my standpoint, there were a few minor glitches in the film (one when dialog tries to fill in content at the beginning when Hannah's father says she was in the hospital over night which was a bit contrived) and the other two with scenes. One tried to paint an understanding of the main character, Hannah, but fell just a bit short (the hotel room scene). The other was the first date scene which didn't seem to add much other than sprinkle a little romance into the mix.
Apart from these quibbles, October Baby treats fundamental issues of life in a thoughtful and entertaining way. Not much more one could ask for in a film.
The synopsis (really average Hollywood speak) doesn't do the film justice, but I include it being too lazy to supply my own.
"As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before her first lines, she collapses. Countless medical tests all point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to discovering that she was actually adopted . . . after a failed abortion attempt. Bewildered, angered and confused, Hannah embarks on a journey with Jason, her oldest friend. In the midst of her incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future, Hannah sees that life can be so much more than what you have planned."
Though dealing with only one part of the story, this clip gives a glimpse into the depth of October Baby.
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Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
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If only we could live it better.
Thanks for the quotation and the link, TMI!
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