See Grace Fly
Directed by: Pete McCormack
Written by: Pete McCormack
Starring: Gina Chiarelli, Paul McGillion, Tom Scholte, Jennifer Copping, Ben Ratner
Country: Canada

Rating: Two stars: One for each ending

Reviewed by Hal Gray

Mental Illness 101

The story: Grace, a schizophrenic, stops taking her meds when her mother dies. The voices she's been hearing for years take control of her living and breathing. Desperately, she tries to tell those she loves the world is coming to an end in a few days and if they believe in God, he'll save them when the end comes. Her brother tries to track her down before she does herself harm.

Normally when I give a two-star rating, I'm saying don't go see this film. That's not the case here. Bear with me as I try to explain.

See Grace Fly lands (pun intended) smack dab into the debate of whether ‘the system' of making films is working to the viewers' advantage. Many filmmakers are frozen out of funding and distribution circles because either their films aren't commercial enough or they're lousy at smoozing, or, well, really, any number of things. This arguably is a good. We can't support just anyone who comes up with a crazy idea. But maybe it's a good idea and the only course left open to these filmmakers—if they have the courage of their convictions and the stomach for it—is to make the movie themselves. We're not talking about making it on the cheap—that's how all Canadian movies are made. No, we're talking about making it for almost nothing. Literally. Gathering together friends in the biz to give of time and energy. To steal what one can. To flout shooting by-laws. To send out for pizza and pay for it out of the cookie jar. And above all, to love the project.

In the end, the film is only seen by the diehards who make the film and the people who love them. That's probably just fine. But See Grace Fly, as flawed as it is, has many things going for it and is a testament to what a handful of committed artists can do with little money. It deserves a larger audience.

"Grace" has a vibrant energy due to the two leads. Gina Chiarelli, as Grace, does get off to a shaky start: her characterization of "crazy" as someone who says crazy things in a normal tone of voice misses the manic/depressive mark of schizophrenia. But she finds her feet and the depth of the character before too long. She paints a believable sufferer of life's ills coupled with a chemical imbalance. Paul McGillion as Grace's brother, Dominic, holds the screen equally as well. Stricken with the same childhood demons as his sister and a few more he's picked up along the way, he shows enough vulnerability to keep us guessing what might happen when he finally does find her.

One might think that a low budget film would fall down in technical end of things, but not here. The cinematography is competent and occasionally inspired. The Sound Direction alone deserves an award as the constant flow of voices in Grace's head—virtually subliminal—is a technical and creative success.

The weaknesses lie elsewhere.

If Director and Writer Pete McCormack had stuck to the character-study aspects of Grace and Dominic, it would be a better film. Other characters are not as well thought out and seem on many occasions to serve simply as mouthpieces for McCormack's philosophical musings. Grace's psychiatrist (Jennifer Copping, in a case of miscasting) is the most guilty of this. Not her fault of course. She also has a sex scene with Dominic that suddenly leaps into the romantic comedy genre although it did produce an authentic laugh from the audience. At least two characters—Grace's sister and brother-in-law—are superfluous to the script. Their big scene together about parental angst feels slipped in so that they'd have their ‘moment'. Also, a couple of scenes between Dominic and friend, Father James (Tom Scholte), covered the same ground as the scene before.

Not to give away too much, but there are what could safely be considered two endings, each antithetical to the other. This is one controversy the film doesn't need and could be solved in three minutes in the editing suite. The screening I saw had the Director take questions afterward. When he was asked about the ending(s) he said (to paraphrase) "We (the cast and crew?) talked about that. Some people hate it and some people love it. We decided we'd leave it up to each audience member how they wanted to take it."

It would be nice—no, supremely efficacious, however unCanadian—if the director would take the direction inherent in the title.