However, it's also aiming for a romantic comedy feel, with moments of out-and-out farce and slapstick - these scenes tend to be the least successful. At the social realism end of the spectrum it raises potent issues to do with the rights of the elderly and the LGBTI community.
#WHERE WAS THE MOVIE CLOUDBURST FILMED FULL#
In one scene he makes a drunken wedding toast to Stella and Dotty that, though bluntly expressed, is full of respectful appreciation.Ĭloudburst's main failing is that it doesn't achieve a cohesive style. He's an outsider in a different way to the women, but they understand one another. They've already lived together for the past 30 years.Īdding Prentice to the mix does provide some grit. Anyway, Stella is more than a match for any such interference.Īnd while the women are increasingly committed to the idea of marriage, it's not exactly going to change their lives. The set-up is promising, that the women must head to Canada to achieve self-determination, but there aren't any great obstacles to achieving this goal.ĭolly's granddaughter has apparently sent the police after them, but we never see much evidence of that. It's just a pity Fitzgerald's script, adapted from his own stage play, lacks much in the way of narrative drive. The film's warmest moments are the simple interactions between the women as they reflect on their long life together and navigate the journey. We begin to wonder who really calls the shots in this relationship.
Fricker reveals an unexpected strength beneath this soft exterior. Meanwhile, Dotty is Stella's opposite: a quiet, dreamy woman who also happens to be blind. Stella was a role created especially with Dukakis in mind, which is easy to imagine given the earthy quality she brings to all her work, from outspoken Greek and Italian mothers to the transgender Anna Madrigal in Armistead Maupin's superb Tales of the City. It's a telling illustration of the limitations that age and gender can impose. Suddenly transformed into the more accepted version of a 'little old lady' she has no trouble grabbing a ride. She then has the bright idea of putting a kerchief over her head. The swaggering, short-haired Stella is attempting to thumb a lift, without success. One of the most fascinating moments in the film is a small one. Stella, in particularly, is an unusual character to see on the big screen: an 80-year-old lesbian with a penchant for bawdy sexual talk. If for nothing else, Fitzgerald is to be commended for giving these two fine actors some juicy material to get stuck into.
Dukakis didn't achieve screen fame until winning her Oscar at age 56, when she played Cher's mother in the marvellous Moonstruck.īrenda Fricker has been likewise occupied with supporting roles since her Oscar-winning turn, as Daniel Day Lewis' mother in My Left Foot. Incredibly, this is Olympia Dukakis' first leading role in film, if you don't count her appearances in ensemble vehicles such as Steel Magnolias. As a result, he begins to let down his guard a little and the trio form an unlikely friendship.īrenda Fricker and Olympia Dukakis are formidable as the unsentimental but deeply devoted duo, while Doucette, a stage actor making his film debut, is also excellent. (This film was made in 2011, and of course might play out differently today, given recent changes to the law in the United States.)Īlong the way Stella and Dotty pick up a charming young hitch-hiker, Prentice (Ryan Doucette), who is also on his way to Canada, to see his dying mother.Ĭlearly used to trading on his looks, he finds himself stuck with two women who aren't remotely interested in his 'assets'. Dotty is taken from her home and there's nothing Stella can do to stop it.īut Stella (played by Olympia Dukakis) is an irascible, incredibly forthright individual and there's no chance she's going to accept what's happened.īelieving that the only way to ensure they stay together is to be married, she kidnaps Dotty from the nursing home and they begin a road trip up to Canada to say 'I do'. Molly (Kristen Booth) tricks Dotty (Brenda Fricker) into signing over power of attorney and takes control of the situation.
Stella and Dotty are a long-term couple living in Maine, who find their security threatened when Dotty's meddling granddaughter, Molly, decides that Dotty should be put into a nursing home. Owen, Kevin KincaidĬanadian-American writer/director Thom Fitzgerald teams two Oscar winners with a screen newcomer to create an intriguing familial dynamic in Cloudburst. Actors: Olympia Dukakis, Kristin Booth, Brenda Fricker, John Dunsworth, Ryan Doucette, Jeremy Akerman, Mary-Colin Chisholm, Mark A.
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