Coming across inspiration isn’t easy. It is quite difficult
to get inspired and come up with a piece of work which is sublime while we are
troubled with everyday affairs that bring us down. It becomes difficult to
carry on and quite often people try to move away from what they normally do to
think out of the box and get creative ideas to supplement their work.
Monte Wildhorn is an accomplished writer who has lost his
way with his gradually fading passion for writing. Years after his wife’s
death, he still struggles to get on with life and copes by drowning his sorrows
in alcohol with every chance he gets. It has resulted in him becoming sloppy in
everyday life with a dwindled passion for his work. He moves into a small town
called Belle Isle to gather himself and spark his imagination with a hope that
he will be able to fuel his new writing project. Once settled, he is warmly
greeted by his closest neighbours, a single mother and her three daughters.
While Monte’s asocial tendencies make him uninviting to everyone in general, he
finds a soft spot in the heart of the middle daughter, Finnegan, and decides to
take her on as an apprentice to teach the art of imagination. He slowly finds
his way back into writing and the hearts of the family as he warms up to life
once again.
This film, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Morgan
Freeman, is a family oriented story. It has its elements of comedy with
intelligent dialogues from the protagonist and is a fair family drama overall.
Morgan Freeman as the handicapped Monte Wildhorn is a good fit but produces no
magic. As the story progresses, it delves more into a relationship between an
old man and a young girl and fits into a cliché of how trying to help someone
eventually leads to helping yourself; in this case the young girl helps the old
man find his way in life. The slowly building love angle of the mother and the
old man is quite appalling, especially considering her separation from her
husband which has caused tension in her family which she is finding difficult
to deal with. Overall, it’s a sloppy affair but just another Hollywood family
script.
There may or may not have been potential for this film, but
it doesn’t really show. It is a good option for a Sunday lunch with family, but
no more than that.
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