Movie Reviews The Indian

This is a very touching drama about the relationship between an estranged father and his attempts to reconcile with his son.

It stars Sal Landi (24, Ugly Betty) as Skip, and his son Danny played by Matt Dallas (Kyle XY).

We meet Skip in a limousine, having a drink, but after a few moments, we see him stay still in apparent discomfort, while two of his companions wonder what is wrong. He is next at the doctor's being told that his liver is failing after years of substance and drug abuse, and at this stage he needs a partial liver transplant from an immediate family member, the doctor asks if he has any children, Skip doesn't answer, but later on Skip looks at a faded picture of Danny, and we realise he does have a son.

We meet Danny who is being cared for by Skip's sister, Carrie played by Jane Higginson (she has incredibly fascinating eyes), since his mother died when he was two. He calls her mum, and treats her as his own mother, however Danny lacks any direction and as Carrie's friend Mona played by Angela Lanza; is constantly telling her, he needs some direction in his life from a father figure. It turns out that Danny had been to a party a few days earlier where he was thrown out as he was not invited, and was simply crashing the party, although to be fair he was minding his own business, but the host realised she didn't know who he was, and so he was subsequently thrown out. In his anger and frustration, he vandalises a nearby shop, but left a vital clue, for the police to track him down.

Prior to this Skip makes an attempt to see his sister and Danny, but his attempts were dismissed by the both of them, as being too little too late. When Danny gets arrested for the vandalism, his bail is set at $50,000. Carrie as a nurse simply cannot afford the bail, and she calls on Skip to provide the bail, as a last gasp opportunity to save Danny from jail, in exchange he gets to spend some time with him as he wants while Carrie relocates to another nursing vacancy. Danny makes a promise to Carrie as a condition of being bailed to agree to go along with whoever is in the house while Carrie relocates for her new nursing vacancy, but the relationship between Skip and Danny is no better than a the beginning of the movie when they met after a long hiatus, with Danny eager to avoid him at every opportunity and Skip desperately trying to find a way into his son's heart. He happens to see in the garage, parts of an old worn out Indian bike, and knowing that at least Danny likes bikes, he decides to to use this as a way into his son's heart by enlisting the help of a father and daughter team, to help him get the parts and fix the bike. The father and daughter team of Ted and Shelby played by Corbin Timbrook and the gorgeous Alison Haislip respectively, have their own issues, with Ted's wife having walked out on him and Shelby. She spends most of the time fixing the parts of the Indian, and inevitably takes a liking to Danny, all the while being watched by Skip.

It is a poignant tale of a father's desperate attempt to save himself which may at the same time be able to repair the fragile relationship with his son and sister.

Danny (Matt Dallas) looks over the Indian

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Movie Reviews $5 dollars a day

This is a charming movie about a street smart con-man and the relationship with his son.

It stars Christopher Walken (his performance in the Deer Hunter still remains legendary) as Nat Parker, who is using the system for his benefit, trying to patch his relationship with his son Ritchie played by Alessandro Nivola (Jurassic Park III).

We meet Ritchie at his place of work and soon we find out he is let go after the manager finds out he has a criminal past, he gets home only to find out his girlfriend Maggie played by the lovely Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards) is leaving him, he happens to find a letter from his father that he had previously put in the trash. We find out that the two are estranged as Ritchie went to jail, taking the fall for a scam his father pulled, where he buys an automobile, replaces the part with junk takes it back to the salesman and gets a replacement saying the car he bought was nothing but junk. It turns out that one time the institution caught on, but his son's name was what was used on the paperwork, so Ritchie spends a considerable amount of time in jail for a crime his father committed, and he is none too pleased with his father about this.

Nat would like to make it up to him, and added the incentive that he is dying of a brain tumor, so Ritchie should come up and see him in an all expenses paid trip to Mexico where there is a new age treatment, that may or may not work, but after a while you realise, Nat simply wants to spend some time with his son.

The relationship between father and son is close, and you can tell immediately whatever bad feelings Ritchie had with his father, you know he can forgive him for anything, even when Ritchie finds out, it was his father who reported him to his place of work, that he had a criminal record, so he can be fired, as an impetus to get him to pay him a visit, as Nat puts it, the job was closing Ritchie in; he was too good for it.

On their road trip, Nat is in his element, with his social awareness able to get him into parties, and get many things for free, as he puts it you can survive on 5 dollars a day, hence the title. There is a brief cameo by Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) as Dolores Jones, who is eternally grateful to Nat for helping her get her Rotary license. It turns out Dolores used to babysit for Ritchie, and Ritchie remembers her fondly as she was his first infatuation, but it seems she only has eyes for his father.

This is a very nice warm feeling of a movie, and Christopher Walken is his usual quirky self.

Nat (Christopher Walken) and Ritchie (Alessandro Nivola) Parker on their road trip

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Movie review for The Open Road

This is a very enjoyable road trip movie starring the superb Jeff Bridges (Starman) as Kyle Garrett, a baseball legend, who has chosen to live his life away from his wife Katherine played by the lovely Mary Steenburgen (Back to the future part 3) and son Carlton played by Justin Timberlake (Black snake moan).

Matters come to a head, when Katherine is diagnosed with a heart condition that needs surgery, but she will not have the surgery unless her husband comes to pay her a visit. It falls to Carlton to find his father and somehow convince him to turn up so his mother can have the surgery.

He takes along his friend Lucy, played by the lovely Kate Mara (Transsiberian), and together they find Kyle signing autographs, and being charming to all who recognise him as the legendary baseball player he was.

It turns out Carlton has been trying to follow in his father's footsteps, but things are not going so well with him at his team, his coach played by Ted Danson (Friends) does a short cameo, and tells him if he doesn't sort his mind out, someone else will take his place.

Along with trying to convince his absent father, to come along with him; so his wife, and his mother can have the live saving surgery she needs, he also has regrets over breaking off with Lucy, and inevitably Kyle notices the friction between the two of them.

On meeting Kyle again after an approximate four year span, we get a little insight into the relationship between father and son. Kyle is signing autographs and introduces Carlton to a colleague as a fan, but the colleague does a confused look when Carlton purposefully introduces himself as "Carlton... Garrett".

On explaining to Kyle that his wife is sick, and has requested him at her bedside, surprisingly for Carlton his father agrees, and he phones his mother at the airport, telling her he is looking right at him, and that they are coming to see her, much to her joy.

However it turns out things are not so straightforward as Kyle has apparently lost his wallet, and he will not be allowed to board the flight without suitable identification. Lucy suggests they drive instead, and hence the title.

It tells of the broken relationship between a father and a son, and their journey together to fix this in more ways than one, during this road trip.


Kyle Garrett (Jeff Bridges), Carlton Garrett (Justin Timberlake) and Lucy (Kate Mara)

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