Main Cast: Gena Rowlands, Jacob Tierney, Diana Scarwid, Drake Bell, Denis Leary
Release Year: 1995
Country: UK/US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
A young boy comes of age in rural Georgia during the 1940s in Terence Davies' challenging, visually powerful drama. Acclaimed for his nostalgic, beautifully photographed reflections on England's past (The Long Day Closes, Distant Voices, Still Lives), Davies looks beyond his home country to America with this adaptation of a novel by John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces. The film is told through the eyes of David (Jacob Tierney), a teenage boy struggling to deal with life in a troubled family. He reflects on his youthful experiences of his father (Denis Leary), an abusive, impoverished worker who disappeared during World War II after enlisting in the army. David is left to care for his increasingly unstable mother (Diana Scarwid) with the help of his Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands), a lively big band singer. With David's recollections making up the loose plot, The Neon Bible stresses memorably intense images over narrative momentum, with cinematographer Michael Coulter creating sharp, painterly compositions. Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Leo Burmeister - Bobbie Lee Taylor; Frances Conroy - Miss Scover; Bob Hannah - George; Stephanie Astalos Jones - Testifier; Peter McRobbie - Rev. Watkins; Charles Franzen - Tannoy; Virgil Graham Hopkins - Mr. Williams; Tom Turbiville - Clyde; Jill Jane Clements - Woman
Credit
Philip Messina - Art Director, Laura Rosenthal - Casting, Renee Victor - Choreography, Monica Howe - Costume Designer, Cas Donovan - First Assistant Director, Terence Davies - Director, Charles Rees - Editor, Nik Powell - Executive Producer, Stephen Woolley - Executive Producer, Thomas G. Varga - Musical Direction/Supervision, Robert Lockhart - Songwriter, Christopher Hobbs - Production Designer, Michael Coulter - Cinematographer, Olivia Stewart - Producer, Victoria Westhead - Producer, Elizabeth Karlsen - Producer, Terence Davies - Screenwriter
On Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of critics gave the film positive reviews (based on 9 reviews).[1]
The film was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.[2]San Francisco Chronicle film critic Edward Guthmann said the film was poorly received when it premiered at Cannes, but called it "gorgeous" and "one of the year's most beautiful films." He said it was a rewarding film that requires a little faith from the viewer due to long, slow, "lingering shots that work as a kind of meditation." He described the revival meeting at night "like an Edward Hopper or Thomas Hart Benton painting come to life." [3] Judd Blaise of Allmovie gave the film 2 1/2 out of 5 stars and said "Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach."[4]The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said one of the problems with the film was that it "may have succumbed to its own dreamy esthetic" by focusing on the same image too often, and that the end of the film "loses its balance."[5]
Stephen Brophy, a staff reporter for The Tech, said "Terence Davies' latest film looks as ravishing as Distant Voices, Still Lives, or The Long Day Closes" but that the plot was weak and that the ending of the film was absurd.[6]San Francisco Examiner critic Barry Walters said the film was "unrelentingly downbeat" and that "it starts off dark and gets darker". He called it "one long crawl into an emotional abyss without catharsis" and said that the director Davies had created a nightmare.[7]
In an interview with Time Out Film Terence Davies said "The Neon Bible' doesn't work, and that's entirely my fault. The only thing I can say is that it's a transition work. And I couldn't have done 'The House of Mirth' without it." [8]
The film was shown on two screens in the United States and grossed $78,072 in its theatrical release.[9]
