Review: Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night, originally bearing the less sinister title of Behold My Heart, is a predictable but effective look at how grief affects those left behind.
The sophomore directorial outing from actor Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), the film revolves around the Lang family comprised of singer-songwriter Steve (Timothy Olyphant), career woman Margaret (Marisa Tomei), and their teenage son Marcus (Charlie Plummer). The Langs seem happy enough, though one can sense that Marcus has a stronger connection to his dad (they're first seen sharing a joint) than he is to his mom, who appears to be the more stringent parent and also is more pre-occupied with her work, though not so pre-occupied that she can't join Steve for a duet during one of his shows. The duet, arguably the best part of the film, showcases the wonderfully intimate and sexy chemistry between Tomei and Olyphant, the latter of whom oozes easy like Sunday morning charisma.
The night takes a terrible turn when Steve, in an attempt to diffuse a scuffle, ends up dead. Margaret and Marcus are unmoored as they attempt to cope without him and with each other. Margaret takes refuge in alcohol, embarrassing her son in front of his friends. More critically, she makes a drunken pass at her son, resulting in him moving out of their home and pitching a tent in the woods. The remainder of the film chronicles Margaret's attempts to pull herself out of her downward spiral and repair her relationship with Marcus.
That Dark Was the Night isn't a sluggish and depressing watch is due largely in part to Leonard's lightness of touch. His script, co-written with Rebecca Lowman, is quietly affecting rather than heavy-handed and the performances by Plummer and especially Tomei have a piercing rawness that make viewers understand how the hurt that could bring them together can also tear them apart. The film makes no efforts to reinvent the wheel and it has moments that veer into the wilfully quirky (to wit: Margaret's flair for chainsaw sculpture) or the borderline pretentious (such as the titled chapters, but is nonetheless worth the watch.
Dark Was the Night
Directed by: Joshua Leonard
Written by: Joshua Leonard, Rebecca Lowman
Starring: Marisa Tomei, Timothy Olyphant, Charlie Plummer, Mireille Enos, Emily Robinson
