Cecie and I watched Canvas last night – a movie about a family struggling with schizophrenia. We had high expectations that the movie was going to be phenomenal. Cecie had read about it in People magazine, and I had checked out the movie on the Canvas website. We like actors Joe Pantoliano and Marcia Gay Harden. Devon Gearhart, who played their son, did an outstanding job.
All in all, however, except for the dream scene with the son, we were disappointed and would rate the film so-so.
What bothered me most about the film is that the situation didn’t seem real. Given the mom’s condition, I would expect a lot more anguish and angst on the part of the father and son. I would expect the husband/father to be working double-shifts to make ends meet and cover the bills. He would have seemed exhausted. We would have seen foreclosure stickers on the house. Instead, this guy’s buying lumber and other supplies to build a boat? C’mon, man!
Okay, I get it. This movie is supposed to give hope to families struggling with mental illness, but in this case, I think the movie simply succeeds in building false hopes, if any. I believe there is hope, and I also believe that families that struggle through it together and succeed are much stronger and multi-dimensional than families that have never taken on such a challenge, but I think it is much more of a struggle than Canvas makes it seem.
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