Movies:
Charms for the Easy Life
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2003
- Interviews with: Gena Rowlands, Mimi Rogers, Susan Mary Pratt
- Filmographies on: Joan Micklin Silver- director, Gena Rowlands, Mimi Rogers, Susan Mary Pratt
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- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Family Drama, Period Film
- Themes: Race Relations, Mothers and Daughters, Small-Town Life
- Director: Joan Micklin Silver
- Main Cast: Gena Rowlands, Mimi Rogers, Susan May Pratt, Geordie Johnson, Kenneth Mitchell
- Release Year: 2002
- Country: US
Plot
Charlie Kate Birch (Gena Rowlands) is a peculiarly powerful Southern matriarch, an anachronism in the early 20th century. She's a self-educated woman who makes a good living as a midwife and holistic healer. One day, she saves a black man who's been lynched, and he thanks her by giving her a rabbit's foot, which supposedly "brings an easy life" to the person who carries it. Charlie's husband leaves her soon thereafter, but she had begun to think he was an idiot anyway. Charlie's only character flaw seems to be her attraction to unworthy men, and she passes that trait on to her daughter, Sophia (Mimi Rogers). Sophia's husband is an unfaithful lout, and he dies an early death, leaving Charlie, Sophia, and her daughter, Margaret (Susan May Pratt of 10 Things I Hate About You) to fend for themselves, which they do admirably. Soon, Sophia has another suitor, a divorced lawyer named Richard Baines (Geordie Johnson). Unlike her mother, Sophia has remained a romantic soul, and she loves Richard, and waits patiently for him to propose to her. Charlie, meanwhile, has an ongoing feud with the alcoholic town doctor, and tries to be a more cerebral influence on Margaret. But when, during World War II, Margaret falls in love with Tom Hawkings (Ken Mitchell), a wounded soldier, Charlie realizes that they're a perfect match. Charms for the Easy Life was adapted by screenwriter Angela Shelton (Tumbleweeds) from a novel by Kaye Gibbons. The film was directed by Joan Micklin Silver (Crossing Delancey) and premiered on Showtime on August 18, 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie GuideReview
Charms for the Easy Life is an engagingly low-key family drama that features fine performances from its three female leads. The film has a leisurely pace, and gives the audience a chance to get to know Charlie Kate (Gena Rowlands), her daughter Sophia (Mimi Rogers), and her granddaughter Margaret (Susan May Pratt), and understand the complex dynamics of their relationship to one another. Director Joan Micklin Silver and screenwriter Angela Shelton show a real flair for capturing the interaction of mother, daughter, and granddaughter. These are all strong, intelligent characters, but also very different from one another, and the conflicts that arise among them seem completely organic. The writing is sharp, and the period details seem accurate. One could quibble that the lives depicted in the film are a bit too "easy," that Charlie Kate is so far ahead of her time, and overcomes the obstacles in her path so easily, as to strain credulity. It's a fair criticism, but in the end, these are such interesting and charming characters, and their relationship so vividly drawn, that a relative lack of verisimilitude doesn't seem to matter so much. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie GuideCast
- Gena Rowlands - Charlie Kate
- Mimi Rogers - Sophia
- Susan May Pratt - Margaret
- Geordie Johnson - Richard Baines
- Kenneth Mitchell - Tom Hawkings II
Wayne Robson - Doctor; Kayla Perlmutter - Margaret (Child); Kirsten Kieferle - Charlie Kate (1909); Christine Rottenberg - Sophia (1909); David Macniven - Sophia's Husband; Robert Clarke - Coroner; Patricia Welbourn - Pearl; Stella Sprowell - Mrs. Baines; Dwight McFee - Tom's Father; Joanne Boland - Tom's Sister; Maggie Huculak - Tom's Mother; Ron Kennell - Charlie's Husband
