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Tideland
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Jodelle Ferland
Genre:
Independent/Drama/
Fantasy
Run Time: 122
min.
Release Date:
October 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Terry Gilliam is best known
for his acting, directing, and writing within the Monty Python troupe.
Mention his name in comedic circles and instantly you’ll hear titles
like THE LIFE OF BRIAN and MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
or maybe even the cultish BRAZIL.
But more likely than not you’ve never heard of TIDELAND, which is
unfortunate because it’s a very good film. Not Mr. Gilliam’s best
directorial achievement, but certainly highly entertaining and grossly
underrated. Receiving only a limited release in 2005, Tideland was
quickly whisked out of theaters in favor of bigger blockbusters that
held minimal substance by comparison.
What else is interesting is the perfect casting and surprising
comeuppance of eleven-year-old Jodelle Ferland who appears in nearly
every frame of the film. Side by side with such veterans as Jeff Bridges
(THE BIG LEBOWSKI) and Jennifer Tilly (MONSTERS, INC.),
Ferland’s performance was hilarious, sad, and openly weird.
The story itself would’ve been intriguing enough, even without the great
actors, in that it exposes the psyche of a young girl named Jeliza-Rose
(Ferland) who must deal with the unpredictable, drug-addled behavior of
her short-lived parents Queen (Tilly) and Noah (Bridges). She handles it
by seeking solace in her imagination. When her mother dies, her father
takes her on “an adventure” (think Alice In Wonderland) that carries her
back to her father’s vacant home in the middle of nowheresville. When
her father decides to take a heroin “vacation”, Jeliza-Rose is left on
her own, playing with her bodiless dolls, finding a rabbit hole, and
eventually stumbling upon a brain-damaged friend named Dickens (the
perfectly cast Brendan Fletcher, RV).
Finding a friend, no matter how psychologically damaged he may be,
Jeliza-Rose and Dickens form an intricate if fatalistic bond. Dickens
believes the trains that run near his home to be a type of “shark” that
patrol the ocean-like fields of wheat that span the nearby plains. His
attempts to destroy this shark are poignantly funny in that he leaves
coins on the railroad tracks in an attempt to “sicken” or derail the
creature. Jeliza-Rose, joining his fantasy into her own world, creates a
barrier in her own mind to distance herself from death, and it is so
dark and so funny that viewers will find it amazing that they’re
laughing at her circumstances.
Pushing boundaries is what good and great cinema is all about, and it
certainly is what this film does. Tickling that dark funny bone while
tugging heartstrings is probably one of the toughest things directors
and actors can do, but Gilliam and his crew pulled it off without a
hitch. The dark tonality of the production mixed extremely well with the
comedic events that Jeliza-Rose inserts in order to protect herself.
If you’re a dark comedy fan, this one is a must.
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Image from Tideland
DVD cost: $23.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The mailbox at the
house in the country bears the name "M. Cullin", which is a reference to
the author of the book the film is based on, Mitch Cullin.
Movie Quote: "Time
for Daddy to take a little vacation."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Tideland
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