There were 196 films screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and The Hatchet managed to see 25 of them. While this might seem like a meager percentage, sitting and watching movies for 12 hours a day is no easy feat. Thankfully, the duds were few and far between. These are our favorites. Almost all of these films come to Sundance looking for a studio to distribute them, so most of them don’t yet have release dates – keep your eyes peeled for these as they hit theaters during the year.
Away From Her: Actress Sarah Polley makes her directorial debut in an emotional drama about a couple coming to terms with Alzheimer’s disease and the changes imposed on their love. This is a deeply moving story about friendship and loss with heart-wrenching performances by its stars. Bring tissues.
Teeth: A virginal teen discovers something peculiar about her body as she’s the victim of sexual violence. But don’t worry; it’s a comedy. A hilarious commentary on sex-education that’s replete with sexual symbolism; keep your fingers crossed that “Teeth” makes it into theaters in its unedited glory. Newcomer Jess Weixler took home an acting prize for her “biting” performance in the lead role.
Grace is Gone: In the first movie that takes a look at the home-front during the Iraq War, John Cusack must tell his daughters that their mom died fighting for her country – and struggles with his own beliefs about the war in trying to do so. Featuring Cusack’s best performance in recent memory – if not the best in his career – it won an Audience Award in the dramatic competition, the first of likely many prizes.
Son of Rambow: A small boy, part of a religious sect that seems closely related to the Amish, accidentally sees Rambo: First Blood, and a miscreant cinephile from his class recruits him to act – and do stunts – in his homemade homage to the badass Stallone film. Writer/director Garth Jennings demonstrates a gift for creating an oddball atmosphere that makes Wes Anderson look like an amateur. This was the most enjoyable film of the festival.
Fido: In 1950s bizarre-America, flesh-eating zombies have been domesticated for slave labor. Keeping up with their neighbors, the Robinson family buys a zombie of their own, but the mother and son get a little too attached. The newest addition to the RomZomCom (that’s Romantic Zombie Comedy) genre started by “Shaun of the Dead” shows that zombies have feelings, too.
Hounddog: Dakota Fanning gets raped. This is not really one of our favorites, but it’s the first movie everybody asks us about. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, we hated, hated, hated this movie. Fanning’s clearly got talent, but it’s squandered in this incoherent, exploitative waste of time. At least the rape scene is in good taste, as far as those things go. This received jeers at the press screening.
-Andrew Siddons and Erika Tepler
