It may have been a long stroll down memory lane where the hair was bad and the bell-bottoms were big, but in which direction did the film go?
The Lisbon’s are one child short of the Brady Bunch. With five golden haired daughters, Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner) is as religious and overprotective as they come. Mr. Lisbon (James Woods) is the complete opposite, but often gives in to his controlling wife. It isn’t until the Lisbon family loses their youngest daughter that they begin to loosen up their stronghold on the remaining daughters.
The daughters are the obsession of not only the neighborhood boys, but also the entire community. There is nothing odd about them, unless you consider being beautiful, smart, and cunning an oddity. The real curiosity comes as the girls get more and more sheltered by their mother after an incident with a boy drives her to the edge. The more the mother takes them away from the outside world, the more they are obsessed over.
Sofia Coppola does a decent job in bringing this story to the screen. She doesn’t try to figure out the many unanswered questions, instead opting to leave us just as confused as everyone else. Most intriguing is the perspective. We can only guess at what is happening in that house as the boys look on and wonder the same. The mystery is kept alive, but at what cost? In the end, you hardly make sense of any of it. When the film is over, you’ll forget almost immediately what you were even concerned about only minutes before.
+ charlie craine
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