Happiest Season (2020)

I am a bit of Grinch when it comes to Christmas. While being all grumpy during the holiday season is not my vibe, I don't like the money and time wasted on decorations, I don't like people pretending to be happy when they are not, and I f***king hate Christmas songs. Hence I would have never watched Clea DuVall's Happiest Season were it not directed by a woman and praised by bloggers I follow. And it would have been a loss on my side because, while it has its flaws, it is an engaging, moving and heartbreaking film. 

The Cake Eaters (2007)

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Mary Stuart Masterson

Country

USA

Cast

Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern, Elizabeth Ashley, Jayce Bartok, Miriam Shor, Talia Balsam, Jesse L. Martin, Melissa Leo

Storyline

Starving musician Guy Kimbrough (Jayce Bartok) makes his way back upstate for the first time in three years, and does his best to deal with the recent death of his mother while trying to win his ex-girlfriend Stephanie (Miriam Shor) back. Meanwhile, his shy brother, Beagle (Aaron Stanford), falls in love with Friedreich's Ataxia-stricken high school student Georgia Kaminski (Kristen Stewart), and their father, Easy (Bruce Dern), attempts to rekindle his relationship with Georgia's grandmother Marg (Elizabeth Ashley).

Opinion

I love independent films, so when a few months ago I was gently asked to review this title, I did my best to get my hands on it. After finally watching it last night, I can say it was a pleasing surprised by Mary Stuart Masterson's directorial debut.

With a bright performance by Kristen Stewart, The Cake Eaters is a simple, subtle and feel-good drama with characters full of humanity.

This is the kind of film in which not much happens but the interesting characters draw you into their world. Each character has their own story to tell, they are interesting and well developed considering the quite short running time. Unfortunately some of their stories lack of something, and the one that is at the center of the film, Stewart and Stanford's, ends with a dry cut.

Despite that small lack, screenwriter and actor Jayce Bartok offered heartfelt dialogue, and director Masterson was able to guide the cast so not to make those lines sound pathetic.

The cast is able to convey depth in their dramatic roles without being unnecessarily melodramatic. Kristen Stewart does a very good job as Georgia. When playing characters with diseases of any kind, there's always a tendency to overact, but she is completely believable. Aaron Stanford - who I saw in the X-Men series and The Hills Have Eyes - has the chance to showcase his acting abilities, and does a fine job in the role of Beagle. The rest of the cast, especially Bruce Dern, provides a good support.