Customer Reviews

Digging to China

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I may shed a tear every now and then during a dramatic movie scene, but this film really kept the tears flowing... I'm torn between recommending this movie and protecting people from seeing it because it's so sad.

I've read many critics rip up this movie, also claiming Kevin Bacon's performance as being inconsistent, or perfunctory. All I have to say to that is they were watching KEVIN BACON PLAY A DISABLED PERSON, and did not accept the character for who he was and let the story roll. I'm sure if DiCaprio played Arnie in Gilbert Grape today after his established fame people would be more critical and see him as the known actor.

This slice-of-life picture may seem slow at times, but it adds to the realism of a non-Hollywood blockbuster that tries to cram everything down your throat. It has a simple calmness to it, a child-like aura. And speaking of children, Evan Rachel Wood's performance is solid, believable and promises an incredible acting career for her future. She was a great casting call; not an over-dramatized, rag-dressed victim, but a believable 10-year-old in a small American town.

This movie captures the innocent friendship that can exist between an adult and a child, much like Mel Gibson's "Man without a face," as his character was accused and judged for spending time with his student. "Digging to China" will always remain a small film with dust on the sleeve at the video rental store, but I think it surpasses many Hollywood blockbusters that explode special effects and violence for the viewing public that just screams for more. Some may compare Bacon's character (Ricky) to Hoffman's in "Rain Man," but my heart goes out to Ricky in "Digging to China," for he was conscious of his problem, and was hoping for a miracle.

Do you remember when as a child you wanted to go far away, anyway you could? Do you remember befriending the outcast, the downtrodden, the not so cool, and not worrying about what other people thought? Evan Rachel Wood (Harriet) gives a sensitive preformance of just such a child. She befriends a mentally handicapped man (Kevin Bacon) who is being taken to a "home" by his dying mother, and they both try to escape the bad situations into which they were born. Bacon gives a truly outstanding performance of "Ricky" who is fearful of his future, knowing he will never mature, and who finds some temporary solace in this 10 year old friend during the only time at which their friendship is possible. Harriet will grow up and escape, Ricky won't. Definitely a must see.

I was happily surprised at what a quirky, insightful and often humourous story this was (along with a teary ending). Evan Rachel Wood is superb superb in naturally bringing to life her unusually sensitive and perceptive character -- at the pace she's on she's destined for several academy awards. Bacon fortunately doesn't overdo it -- more like dicaprio in gilbert grape than the irritating hoffman in rainman. The script is packed with little dialogue gems that you'd never find in a Disney movie, and though Hutton's first-time directing shows its inexperience, it actually fits in with the simple atmosphere of the movie. Don't expect too much and be pleasantly surprised like me.

"You're going to grow up and I'm not."

This is what Ricky Schroth (Kevin Bacon) says to Harriet Frankovitz (Evan Rachel Wood) near the end of the film, expressing both the promise of her life, and the tragedy of his. It is precisely because of the potential of this sharp spoken, sharp witted, beautiful little girl with a mind of her own that we are mesmerized by her, as we are by our own children, and why we are so deeply saddened by the young man who is not a man and never will be.

This is a film that discovers itself after a clumsy start and develops until at the end we see the beauty and the tragedy of its story as an affirmation of life. Kevin Bacon starts awkwardly and has to work hard to conquer a demanding role. But so does Wood, who in the beginning at times seemed unsure of who she is and how she should feel and react. But both actors grow into their characters and become stronger and stronger as the film progresses. However, I think Director Timothy Hutton (Best Supporting Actor for Ordinary People in 1980) might have profited by re-shooting some of the earlier scenes.

It is interesting to compare Bacon's performance with that of other actors who have attempted to play mentally retarded or mentally challenged characters--I'm thinking here of Dustin Hoffman in The Rain Man (1988) and Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade (1996). Dustin Hoffman was of course something close to brilliant in his Academy Award winning role. He had a charming script, and because he played alongside Tom Cruise he benefitted from not having to carry the picture by himself. This was not the case for Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade, where too much was attempted without enough help so that Thornton ended up too much in front of the camera, and that was not always to his benefit. Here Bacon is wonderfully supported not only by Miss Wood, but by Mary Stuart Masterson who plays Harriet's "sister" Gwen. Some people have criticized Masterson's performance, but I think they are reacting to her non-sympathetic character, a woman, who, as Harriet says, "should have been a nurse. She's always making some guy feel better." I think Masterson was very subtle in a unrefined role, and touching as a woman who had a lot to learn. Also excellent and completely believable in a limited role was Marian Seldes as Ricky's mother.

I was surprised that such an original and deeply lived script was not adapted from a novel. No writer could have just dreamed up this story. It had to have been lived in some sense. (Part of it was dreamed up of course.) So I guess, Karen Janszen, who wrote the script must have lived it. At any rate, she is to be commended for such an original conception. The setting in North Carolina at a rural motel ("Mom won it in a divorce"), and the three who ran "Mac's Indian Cabins" was perfect for the tale. Her celebration of the spirit of a ten-year-old who thinks she can dig to China was precious and warm. Some of the lines were so perfect. I am thinking of Harriet's voice over after it is revealed that she and Ricky "got married" (baptized is more like it!). The ten-year-old says, "Gwen was mostly upset cause I got married before her."

A wonderful heart warming story of a 10 year old girl in a dysfunctional family who befriends a mentally retarded young man. They try to escape each of their worlds. The greatest line of the movie: Hutton says to the 10 year old "you like me now but will not later, because you will grow up and I never will".

Timothy Hutton's uplifting plot for his 1997 movie "Digging to China" -- which is the coming of age between a parent and child (Mary Stewart Masterson's "Gwen" and Evan Rachel Wood's "Harriet," respectively) -- projects a very significant and timely social message. The theme's impact on the audience, which is our realization that a parent-child relationship can be fostered even in the worst of circumstances, rivets the audience to their seats as they listen to the movie's last song, Patty Griffin's "One Big Love." From the start of this movie, we witness Gwen and Harriet trying to sort out, not only their own relationship, but every relationship that they have -- and they succeed, despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

In the beginning of the story, which takes place in 1969 rural Pennsylvania, twenty-five-year-old Gwen, who is ten-year-old Harriet's mother, pathetically tries to find friendship from the line of suitors she meets at the low-rent, run-down resort that she owns, and rarely leaves. Gwen maintains a rather peculiar lie to everyone (including Harriet, who believes it's true). Gwen claims that ten-year-old Harriet is her sister who is being raised by their mother, an aging alcoholic played by Cathy Moriarty ("mom"). "Mom's" only consistency is displaying questionable judgement. "Mom" plays along with Gwen's lie, and takes on the task of being Harriet's mother. When she goes out she's always drunk, which does not stop her from driving her canary-yellow 1965 Mustang (often on the wrong side of the road), at times, with ten-year-old Harriet in the car. At home, besides washing the dishes and helping Gwen maintain their resort, Harriet is tasked with mixing "mom's" martinis. "Mom's" indiscretions ultimately claim her life in a drunken automobile accident (in the middle of the story's development) forcing Gwen and Harriet's face-off, and subsequent parent-child development.

Harriet finds it difficult to make friends with the children she meets at school. Her innocence lost somewhere between "mom's" judgement and witnessing Gwen's precarious behavior around the resort. She is not taught "normal" social skills, and as a result not fit in with other children at school. But, despite this, she seems caring, and looks for friends -- though, like everything else in her life, this becomes confused as well. She looks in unconventional places, and finds an unlikely friend. Like Gwen, Harriet befriends a guest who's staying at their resort. The friend she finds is a retarded (soon to be institutionalized) thirty-year-old man -- "Ricky," who is convincingly portrayed by Kevin Bacon. It's soon after "mom's" deadly accident, and Harriet's friendship to Ricky surfaces that we begin to witness a new Gwen -- she's transformed into someone who begins to show some concern about what Harriet does, or doesn't do. She starts becoming a parent. After "mom's" funeral, Gwen breaks the news to a shocked (and, at first disbelieving) Harriet: "I'm your mother." Gwen begins the often unpleasant (and unpopular) task of being a parent. She points out, to a rebellious Harriet, that Ricky can't be, or shouldn't be, a ten-year-olds' best friend. After several of Harriet's rebellious outbursts, a pattern emerges as Gwen maintains: "you can't keep running away Harriet. This is your life. So, you had better get used to it, and you'd better get used to me."

As parent and child continue to realize their true roles, Harriet, becomes increasingly rebellious, runs away with Ricky (planning to use the draft dodger's famous "Underground Railroad"), and she and Ricky have an innocent wedding ceremony in a lake (very 60's). Harriet's attitude begins to change when she runs back home to Gwen -- for help saving an ailing Ricky who exclaims that he needs his mom. Gwen, naturally, is very concerned and protective, as she tries to divide the relationship between Harriet and Ricky. Harriet begins receiving, and absorbing messages that she's getting from other guests who say the "Gwen missed you very much." Several days later, after Ricky leaves, it appears as if Gwen and Harriet are ready to move forward as well.

In the closing scene, Harriet is in bed, and the place normally occupied by "mom" is empty. Gwen is out on the porch, sitting on a lawn chair, alone, without the company of one of her boyfriends. Needing her empty space in bed occupied by a parent, Harriet calls out to Gwen, with a suggestion--that almost sounds like an instruction manual for parents: "Gwen, your supposed to tell me a story until the Sandman comes." Obviously thrilled, or possibly relieved, Gwen says: "Do I pick us the subject, or do you?" Harriet replies "Either," as Gwen pauses, and gets up to tell her daughter a bedtime story.

This movie's theme, and the realistic way that it's presented by the story line and its outstanding performances, has many applications that, with a little thought, could relate in some way to most people who see this movie. Single parents, parents, rebellious kids, people with mental or physical limitations, and all those who know and care about someone that fall into one of those categories can learn from the growth experienced by "Digging to China's" Gwen and Harriet.

This is a good film full of heart and soul! Great performances and a fine story! Filmed in the lucious Blue Ridge Mountains of Cherokee, North Carolina! Worth the price! Grade: A+

Enjoyable, makes one want to slow down and take the time to understand people that are different. I have not seen or heard of Evan Rachel Wood before this movie, but she carried the lead role with such ease, I am convinced she has the talent to handle any role presented to her.

An miraculous performance by Kevin Bacon.
A truely touching film.

This is truly my favorite movie. After watching this movie I became an immediete Kevin Bacon fan. I'm just a little girl but I think he is the best actor is the world. Excellent movie.