MQFF 2010: AMERICAN PRIMITIVE

My second film at this year's Melbourne Queer Film Festival was the US independent feature American Primitive, directed by Gwendolyn Wynne and written by Mary Berth Fieldler, based on events from Wynne's own childhood.

Set in 1973, the film tells the story of the recently widowed Harry Goodhart (Tate Donovan), who has moved to Cape Cod with his two teenaged daughters, 16 year-old Madeline Goodhart (Danielle Savre) and her slightly younger sister Daisy (Skye McCole Bartusiak), who fancies herself as a bohemian poet and litters her sentences with words straight out of the dictionary. The film is told from Madeline's point of view as she struggles to fit into her new school, where she is drawn to the handsome but shallow tennis jock Sam Brown (Corey Sevier), seemingly unaware that scruffy local boy Spoke White (an excellent performance by Josh Peck) may be a kinder, more honest suitor.

The film's drama is driven by Madeline's discovery that her father's 'business partner', the urbane and charming Theodore Gibbs (Adam Pascal), who lives at the back of their new home, is actually her dad's lover.

Once outed, Harry faces the very real possibility not just of public opprobrium, but also of losing custody of his children - and also losing their love. Madeline in particular struggles to square her discovery about Harry with the father she thought she knew.

Unfortunately, despite strong performances by many of the supporting cast (including Anne Ramsay as Mrs. Brown, the single woman who sets Harry Goodhart in her sights; and Susan Anspach as the girl's deeply religious grandmother) much of the dramatic elements in American Primitive felt straight out of telemovie territory, with the film's earnest script and Wynne's lacklustre direction dragging it down several notches. Creative flourishes - such as a use of split-screen shots that tries to pay homage to the Seventies but which borders on the invasive; and some very obviously fake sideburns on Adam Pascal - hinder rather than help strengthen the story.

In more inventive hands this could easily have been an excellent film about love, family and intolerance set in the less caring 1970's. Instead, it ends up as heavy handed and unimaginative; lacking subtlety and insight, and overly reliant on pat dialogue and simple moralising about being true to who you are and the importance of family in your life.

Of the film's traditional three act structure, the middle act is its weakest point, and to be fair, the film does lift towards the end, thanks in part to an excellent performance by Josh Peck. The scene in which he tells Madeline why her father's sexuality is none of his business is the emotional heart of the film and helps steer American Primitive towards its predictable but positive conclusion.

There is much to admire here - the title, which refers to an art movement practised by Mr. Gibbs, but which also cleverly highlights the less accepting times in which the film is set, the production design (save for those damn sideburns), and the intent with which the film is made; but ultimately I found American Primitive rather cheesy, and a little stodgy to easily digest.

Rating: Two and a half stars