Out of the Woods (2005)
Matt, a self-absorbed young attorney, goes to visit his grandfather - an eccentric recluse who lives in the backwoods without gas, electricity, or phone - to convince him not to give away his estate as he plans to do. But in the end, it is Matt who is convinced to make some life changes. Jason London and Ed Asner star. When a woman needs someone to look after her aging father (Ed Asner), her irresponsible son isn't her first choice. Matt (Jason London) can't get his career, love life, or wallet in order, so how can he be expected to check in on his grandfather? But desperation leads Matt to visit his grandfather at his home in the middle of nowhere. For Matt, this barebones life takes some adjustment, but then he meets a single mother who helps him learn about the simple life.
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Good start, but then it gets ruined
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
The premise is not that unusual. A lot of ungrateful sons and/or daughters try to have parents put away. I have lived on a farm with an outhouse so I know it's not a pleasant place to spend time. We had propane gas for cooking and pump water for drinking or bathing..cold water like in this film..I have had kerosene lamps for light. No overnight delivery.I know that feeling,too. Whatever Ed Asner has going for himself in the woods I do understand and appreciate.Not everyone can understand that kind of life. Los Angeles is not mainstream America. Ed Asner seems to get better with age. His grandson, Jason London is becoming a pretty good actor and does well in this turn both playing off each other. Forget all these people trying to portray this as life lessons. It's not overly sentimental and it has a pretty good flow in the story telling. This is a pretty good walk in the woods.It gets a ten for the acting and a ten for the natural beauty of the location filming.
Does Larry Levenson of Hallmark just enjoy creating the same theme where people visit older folks and redeem themselves before the latter pass on? We see this theme over and over in many of Levenson's productions and "Out of the Woods" is no different.When a grandson, an attorney, is sent to deliver legal papers to his grandfather, who has moved to the woods, the former gets much more than he ever bargained for.This is basically a story of getting away from the rat race and a return to nature. While a good movie, it is cliché.The movie goes downhill when Asner is revealed to be suffering from a terminal illness. He does go gently into that good night by going off into the forests.Of course, the film brings out the grandson's redeeming qualities and that he can do better than the girlfriend he has been seeing within the L.A. scene.
I know ten is a little high for this one, but I have to admit, I really liked Asner's work, and in this piece he portrays an elderly student/teacher of life. The twinkle in his eye throughout the film reveals that he's having a ball with the role. Admittedly, there are corny moments that go along with the particularly corny music at the film's beginning. Also, there is a bit of irritating Hollywood politics, as they feel their viewers are too stupid to be politically aware, themselves. There are also those occasionally glaring questions, such as...Don't these attorneys actually WORK? But in all, it was a kind and restful movie--Perfect for just sitting down and getting away from reality for a little while.
How often do we have the opportunity to watch a film about a 30-year-old-man bonding with his grandfather? That is precisely the premise of this skillfully crafted made-for-television film.Edward Asner is outstanding as the crusty curmudgeon who provides a life lesson to his grandson, a hotshot attorney played by Jason London. When the old man buys a cabin in the forest and appears on verge of squandering his fortune on the neighboring land and deeding it to Native Americans, Asner's character Jack Green is visited by his grandson who is ready to serve him legal papers that declare Jack to be legally incompetent. But the young attorney is unprepared for the wisdom to be imparted to him from his stay in the woods with his grandfather. The relationship unfolded with both humor and tenderness. Both actors should be applauded for performances that hit all the right notes. Stephen Bridgewater also needs to be credited for a deft directorial touch in a number of effective montages and the beautiful photography.The writer Henry David Thoreau described his living experiment on Walden Pond with the words "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity." For the young yuppie attorney who paid a visit to his grandfather's cabin, the lesson that he learned was that of simplicity and a lot more as well. There was great feeling in this film and a profound messageone that we all may learn by taking a walk in the woods.