Grass Harp (1996)

The Grass Harp

If you like movies like "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Crimes of the Heart", or "Practical Magic" then you'll love this Southern tale. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy recently orphaned by his mother and a seemingly uncaring, grieving father. Sent to live with a mis-matched pair of spinster Aunts, the boy learns that love is not always what it seems and can be found in the most unlikely characters. June 28, 2008

The Grass Harp

Excellent movie...well written, directed and acted. Superior cast and of course its' Truman Capote at his best! January 27, 2008

Lovely performances and interesting casting

I adore this movie. I saw it quite awhile ago, so I can't give many specifics, but you can read the other reviews for commentary on the performances. An ensemble cast rather than a real star turn for anyone, with the exception of Piper Laurie. Laurie is always wonderful in her varied roles, and this is a very sweet and graceful conception of a child-like character. She never plays it for laughs, and the portrayal does not indicate that childlike here is equivalent to childish or emotionally disturbed. Poor Sissy Spacek is cast as a typical "old maid/prude", unfortunately; the writer(s) might have made the two women's roles less extreme in their behavior, but it does contribute to the reconciliation at the end. I think I will put this movie on my wishlist. By the way, I came across this movie on an [...] list that gave a rundown of all the movies the very interesting Mia Kirshner has been in. I don't remember her being in the movie, and apparently she had a small role, but it makes me even more eager to see the movie again. She's hot, and I love her on "The L Word". One more note--I have never particularly liked
Walter Matthau, but he does an amazing job with his role. It's worth it to see the very elderly Matthau wrap up his career with an attractive acting job. The title of the movie aptly reflects the airy tone of the story--there is a kind of windy music flowing throughout the performance.
See it at least once! July 26, 2007

Nice Story

"The Grass Harp" (1995) will remind a lot of viewers of "To Kill a Mockingbird". Not a huge surprise given that both stories involve Truman Capote's childhood (Harper Lee based the Dill Harris character on Capote). Both films also use small Alabama towns for their locations.

Capote loosely based his 1951 "The Glass Harp" novella on the eccentric maiden cousins of his childhood. For the film Piper Laurie plays good Aunt Dolly and Sissy Spacek bad Aunt Verena (who is even less likable than Pollyanna's Aunt Polly). Spacek gets to do something out of character and nicely underplays this one. Laurie gets to have even more fun and turns in a joyful performance. She is a little too good to be true but Laurie manages to sell the character with a remarkable performance. In the 1950's Laurie was an extremely pretty (and hot) young starlet but it is obvious from this and her performance in "Carrie" (playing Spacek's mother) that there was a lot of substance in that pretty package.

Edward Furlong (best know as John Conner in "Terminator 2") avoids the "Pollyanna" trap and is pretty easy to take. The coming-of-age side of the story works quite well.

"The Grass Harp" is a bit underrated, probably because the screenplay fails to capture the lyrical quality of Capote's storytelling, giving the viewer a surfeit of sentimentality compounded by a too sweet score. The title is a reference to the musical sound of blowing grass, a metaphor about intergenerational connections and the primary theme of the story.

The film would have benefited from a little more restraint. This is not a fatal flaw but the film would have been more powerful with Mockingbird's toned down production design and less colorful characters; maybe even going so far as to release it in black and white.

Those looking for action adventure and hot romance should look elsewhere. But there are a lot of "Mockingbird" fans out there who should really enjoy "The Grass Harp".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child. March 5, 2007

the grass harp, excellent!

I loved this film adaptation of Truman Capote's classic novel. Even if you haven't read the book, the movie stands on its own and conveys the wit, humor and depth of the characters as intended by the author. February 23, 2006

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