“If the story affects you emotionally, then it has done its job”.
From a personal level, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about kinship, it’ll be the fact that family is made out of members where some we won’t even befriends with if given a choice. With the added pressure from varying external factors, it’s a recipe to a disaster for many.
The Glass House
The Glass Castle relives the materialistically impoverished yet eccentric childhood of Jeannette Walls, who is also the author to her highly acclaimed memoir, The Glass Castle. On-screen and off-screen, the story about her childhood has captivated the hearts of millions worldwide.
Spearheaded by Academy Award winner, Brie Larson, and Oscar nominees, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts, The Glass Castle brings us to the highs and lows of the Walls family. As charming, brilliant, and loving as he can be, Jeannette’s father, Rex (played by Woody Harrelson) is also a man whose dark pasts taunted him from being the father figure to his children at times where they needed him the most. Jeannette Walls’s mother Rose (played by Naomi Watts), on the other hand, is a bohemian artist who place greater emphasis on her paintings than her children, which indirectly resulted Jeannette with a physical and emotional scar which she’ll never forget for the rest of her days.
The Glass House
What’s makes The Glass Castle an incredible movie is that in spite of all the outrageous family dramas and unspoken wrongdoings which has welled upon Jeannette’s childhood, her journey in life has made her a resilient woman and most importantly, she has managed to reconcile with her pasts and somehow accepted her reckless parents for giving her an unconventional head start in life.
The film also draws its strength from its casts, specifically Woody Harrelson who splendidly portrays the late Rex Walls. Harrelson has managed to embody the character’s complexities and complications; a man with wits at both end of a spectrum whom at times genuinely loves and cares for his family, but lets his demons consume the better of him.
Ella Anderson in The Glass House
Like the star picked by Jeannette during one Christmas night , Ella Anderson shined brightly as she plays young Jeannette (from age of 9 to 13). You can actually feel what she felt; happiness, admiration, sadness, hopelessness, and determination through her moving performances. With her plausible acting skills, she perfectly portrays how severe emotional negligence can take a toll on a child who looks up to her father but was deceived and let down numerous times.
This is one of those movies which will get under your skin. A must-watch for those who has zero tolerance for mindless movies.
Now showing at Malaysia’s silver screens, so get your tickets here!
