Shadows on the Wall | Dreamin' Wild

Dreamin’ Wild

dir-scr Bill Pohlad
prd Jim Burke, Bill Pohlad, Kim Roth, Karl Spoerri, Viviana Vezzani
with Casey Affleck, Noah Jupe, Walton Goggins, Jack Dylan Grazer, Zooey Deschanel, Beau Bridges, Chris Messina, Barbara Deering, Cari Wilton, Amandaree Fox, Don Emerson, Joe Emerson
release WP Sep.22 vff
22/US 1h50

TORONTO FILM FEST

Is it streaming?

Following 2014's Love & Mercy, filmmaker Bill Pohlad tells the true story of how the Emerson brothers' eponymous album became a hit some 30 years after it was recorded. It's an engaging movie with strong characters, sharply shot and edited to the rhythms of the Emersons' soulful-teen tunes. Leaning into sentimental nostalgia, The film offers knowing insight into family relationships. And it could create a new generation of fans.

At 15 and 17, farm boys Don and Joe (Jupe and Grazer) escape to their cabin studio to record Don's soulful songs about love. Supported by their parents (Bridges and Deering) they produce an album that gets plenty of attention but never takes off. Three decades later, record exec Matt (Messina) turns up wanting to reissue the album and put Don and Joe (now Affleck and Goggins) back on stage, a dream come true. Although Don is now more comfortable playing alongside his wife Nancy (Deschanel), and Joe is happy working on the family farm.

Focussing on the present-day thread, Pohlad flickers to the past with richly hued, dreamy flashbacks that add texture to the interaction between family members who remain close even with the usual underlying tensions, feelings of guilt and so on. These things may not be as extraordinary as the actual events, but they add involving resonance. And while the characters do rather a lot of thoughtful gazing at glorious Washington State landscapes, their deeper emotions add spark to a narrative about dreams finally coming true.

Both Affleck and Jupe capture Don's darker artistic temperament, a perfectionist who plays all the instruments and micro-manages recordings. His annoyances are expressed in tiny flinches and epic outbursts. Goggins and Grazer give Joe a more relaxed persona, a guy who loves to play drums and work fields and struggles to finds love. Bridges adds a terrific paternal warmth as the optimistic dad who bets his farm on his sons, and is incapable of having regrets. And Deschanel is solid in a rather thankless role.

As a director, Pohlad keeps visuals swirling colourfully while revealing the inner workings of the central characters, never pushing a point. But the ideas are strong, reminding us that family relationships are both comforting and demanding: love with every conceivable shading. So when the real-life family appears at the end, there's a jolt of recognition that hanging in there isn't always easy, but it's always worth the effort. And that has nothing at all to do with artistic success.

themes, language 7.Sep.22 vff

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

Still waiting for your comments ... don't be shy.