Cavedweller (2004)

Based on the New York Times’ Best Selling Novel by Dorothy Allison, "Cavedweller" tells the story of Delia (Sedgwick), a determined young mother who decides to return to her rural southern hometown after the unexpected death of her second husband (Bacon). There she must face the two daughters and abusive husband (Quinn) she abandoned a decade ago.

Hmmmm........

My wife and I had no previous exposure to the books upon which this Showtime movie is based, but found it to be pretty flat.
The Southern stereotypes were WAY OVERDONE and were downright hilarious.... kind of like Hollywood's idea of what the South is like.

Kyra Sedgewick's charachter is totally unlikeable and gives you no sympathy for her plight.

My wife blurted out once or twice.... the best way for this movie to progress would be for this piece of white trash (Sedgewisk's character) to die and maybe the three daughters could get some inheritance money from their musician father's estate and get a real life away from this dysfunctional mom.

It certainly did not appeal to the "chick-flick" side of my wife's emotions at all....

Give me a good movie like THE STRAIGHT STORY or DOOR TO DOOR anyday over this. August 29, 2005

"Those people are not gonna be happy to see you"

Cavedweller has always been one of my favourite Dorothy Allison books, so I was really excited to view this movie adaptation staring Kyra Sedgwick, who also happens to be one of my favourite actresses. The results are sort of mixed; the film has some wonderful performances, especially by Sedgwick, but the writers seem to have done a slash and burn job on much of the story, because gone is most of the content that actually gave the novel its name.

The producers have obviously decided to concentrate much more on Delia Byrd's character and her reconcilement with her two estranged daughters, rather than also focusing on her children's cave dwelling exploits. This is perfectly fine, except that I can't help thinking that they may have done the novel, and by turns, Allison a slight disservice.

Kyra Sedgwick stars as Delia Byrd. As the film opens, Delia loses her errant rock-star husband, Randall (Kevin Bacon), in a car accident. Her daughter Cissy (a terrific Regan Arnold) unreasonably blames her mother for dad's death; her father meant absolutely everything to her. Emotionally fraught, and at-a-loss, Delia decides to take her angry, and heartbroken young daughter from Los Angeles back to her hometown in rural Georgia, where Delia left behind her two daughters and her abusive husband, Clint (Aidan Quinn)many years ago, to join Randall on the road. Delia's best friend Rosemary (singer Jill Scott), warns her against it, but Delia is determined to reclaim her daughters.

Upon arriving in Georgia, however, Delia finds that she is not remembered fondly. The townsfolk humiliate her by accusing her of abandoning her children. Her introverted grandfather (Myron Natwick) reluctantly takes her and Cissy in, but Delia soon learns that Clint is dying, and that her daughters, Amanda (Vanessa Zima) and Dede (April Mullen), are living with Clint's religiously conservative mother (Jackie Burroughs). She has no intention of letting the girls see Delia, but realizing he has wronged her, Clint, who is slowly fading, agrees to help Delia get custody of the girls, in exchange for her caring for him until he dies.

Delia gradually learns how to become a mother to her two daughters again, but things haven't turned out the way that she had hoped. She regularly seeks consolation with the local priest, and confides to him that her "daughters are still like strangers to her." She has found herself plunged into a totally foreign landscape, where she is forced to question her place in the world.

As Delia tries to cope with Clint's debilitating illness and the uneasy relationship that is forming with Amanda and Dede, she recalls with horror the terrible physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband. The priest even tells her that if she hadn't left him she would have died. In an attempting to reconnect with her older children, Delia must also face the demons of her past.

Cavedweller is certainly worth viewing for Sedgwick's totally affecting and moving performance. She manages to convey an astonishing mix of vulnerability and gutsyness as she refuses to be daunted in her quest to remake her relationship with her daughters. Regan Arnold is also good as Cissy, and her modern Southern Californian look - hip sunglasses and figure hugging outfits - juxtaposes nicely with the attire of her more sheltered and protected half-sisters.

It's just a pity that there fails to be an adequate resolution to the story. Much of the developing dynamics between the characters, especially between Delia's daughters, remain unanswered. Also, once Clint dies, the film just ends, and it remains unclear whether Delia will return to Los Angeles, taking all her children with her or stay in living in Georgia. However, despite the story's shortcomings there's still much to admire in this quiet little movie that explores how an independent, spirited woman is forced to confront and meet head-on a difficult turning point in her life. Mike Leonard April 05.
April 3, 2005

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