Some Days Are Better Than Others

This was actually a lot better than we expected. The interconnecting stories are cohesive...eventually...and the acting is good. Our 2010 Seattle International Film Festival screening audience was clearly invested in the outcome, but none of us were doing handstands over it.

Even though two of the main characters are (capably) played by lead singers from two well-known local bands: James Mercer, front man for The Shins; and Carrie Brownstein of Slater-Kinney, I think this film will have a problem finding an audience, as it isn't funny enough to be considered a comedy, the singing is incidental, and the drama is very understated.

This film centers around the detritus of life. One character is hired to help clear out the house of an elderly woman after she dies, another deals with abandoned dogs at the animal shelter, a third one works in a Salvation Army-type drop-off station. I very much appreciated the way the gal did her job of sorting clothes, books, toys, dishes, etc., etc., etc. And I admired the way she handled the situation when she discovered a burial urn that contained the ashes of a child.

None of these people are mean; each is trying to make his or her way through a marginal existence and still maintain a modicum of dignity. I like that...

This review was originally released May 2010, but finally showed up in a few theaters in April, 2011. In keeping with this glacial pace, the DVD is just being released on 04-24-12!