Pages - Menu

Saturday, March 09, 2013

The Magic of Belle Isle

"Drinking is a very demanding profession, and I can't hold down two jobs at once."

Monte Wildhorn (Freeman) is a famous Western author who has given up on life.  He is confined to a wheelchair wants to drink himself to death.  His nephew, Henry (Kenan Thompson), rents a home on Belle Isle for the summer and transports Monte there to refocus.  Along with the house, he inherits a dog from the previous owner.  He wants to be left alone, but the locals have other plans.

Monte is drawn to the women who live next door, divorced Charlotte (Masden), her teenaged daughter Willow (Carroll), adventurous Finnegan (Fuhrmann), and precocious Flora (Pierini).  Finnegan is intrigued by Monte and his profession, and asks him to teach her about imagination.  Can his relationship with the O'Neil's break his writers block and renew his will to life?


Some friends wanted to watch a movie.  We didn't have anything in mind and wanted to watch something funny, so we randomly browsed Netflix and came upon this film.  With Morgan Freeman in the lead we decided to give it a try.

It is a quirky little story with sarcastic humor.  The film isn't what you expect and the story is far from predictable.  The cast is great and the characters are interesting.  I was surprised to learn that Rob Reiner directed this film.  Reiner is best known for his romantic comedy films.  I enjoyed the film, but it won't work for everyone.

The Magic of Belle Island (2012) 109 minutes
Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Morgan Freeman as Monte Wildhorn
Virginia Masden as Charlotte O'Neil
Emma Fuhrmann as Finnegan O'Neil
Madeline Carroll as Willow O'Neil
Nicolette Pierini as Flora O'Neil
Ash Christian as Carl Loop

No comments:

Post a Comment