Accidents Happen (2009)
By: Andrew Lancaster (director), Brian Carbee (writer)
Starring: Geena Davis, Harrison Gilbertson, Harry Cook, Joel Tobeck
There are dysfunctional families… and then there are the Conways. After a family tragedy, 15-year-old Billy Conway has become the de facto glue between his bitter mom, distant brother, and stoic dad. But when Billy starts to act out, everything changes for him and his family.
I had gotten the impression from the designated genre and quirky, derivative movie poster that Accidents Happen was a comedy. I suppose it is if having some humor in your movie qualifies it for being as much, but in actuality, this film is not the light and eccentric indie fare I expected. It was instead quite dark and rather unsettling in many places.
The film suffers from a meandering pace, but the narrative and characters within it are oddly compelling, creating a dichotomy of the exceedingly ordinary and the unbelievable. Geena Davis in particular is very good, and it’s been so long since I’ve seen her in anything, I was really pleased to find that she’s still a very talented actress. Ultimately, I wasn’t entirely certain what to do with Accidents Happen, as the point of the thing got a little lost, but it wasn’t a bad little movie and had a few very deeply moving moments that elevated it from your everyday bland indie.
