Film Review: Penguin Bloom Dir: Glendyn Ivin
Starring Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Jacki Weaver, Rachel House
Warning! This Australian film has all the trappings of a disease/movie of the week…a paralyzed mum, three young children, a benign dad and a bird. Fortunately the mum is played by Naomi Watts and that magpie can really act!
Actually, it took a whole flock of trained magpies to make Penguin Bloom.
Here’s the story…lovely middle-class family is one holiday in Thailand when tragedy strikes in the form of a freak accident…a fall that leaves mum, played by Watts, mostly paralyzed.
The family returns home to Sydney (this true story is based on a book by father Cameron Bloom and is shot in the real-life Bloom house) where Sam (Naomi) struggles to recover…she can’t even get out of bed on her own, let alone take care of three growing boys.
With Sam sinking into despair, one of the sons brings home an injured magpie and, after some period of adjustment, both the bird and the mum seem to be doing better.
A bond develops between them and while Sam’s physical situation is permanent, her attitude is on the mend.
Yes, this is a feel-good weeper and in lesser hands it should have been relegated to an after-school special. But Naomi Watts and the birds keep things real…she has always been a fine actress and has unfortunately seemed to have been out of the spotlight recently.
While this is no King Kong and certainly not Mulholland Drive, it does give Watts a chance to shine once again. Oh, and Kiwi actor Rachel House is worth watching as well.
Marty Duda
