One of the most acclaimed actresses of the 1980s, Anjelica Huston has always played dark, strong roles in films like “The Addams Family”, “The Grifters”, and her Oscar-winning performance for Best Supporting Actress in “Prizzi’s Honor”. Huston also came from an acclaimed family of filmmakers including her father John. In 1996, Anjelica Huston decided to make her directorial debut on a film adaptation of the Dorothy Allison novel “Bastard Out of Carolina” that would mark the breakthrough performances of one of the most gifted and promising young actresses around, Jena Malone.

“Bastard Out of Carolina” is a gritty, coming-of-age drama set in the 1950s South about a young girl named Bone who loses her innocence through the sexual and physical abuse of her stepfather while becoming disillusioned with her mother’s ability as a parent clinging on to her relatives. Adapted into a script by Anne Meredith and directed by Huston, “Bastard Out of Carolina” was originally made for Ted Turner’s TNT channel but the end result was something far more raw and intense that makes the film an uneasy experience to watch. With a cast that includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ron Eldard, Michael Rooker, Diana Scarwid, Lyle Lovett, Glenne Headley, Grace Zabriskie, Dermont Mulroney, Christina Ricci, and Laura Dern serving as a narrator in the film, “Bastard Out of Carolina” is powerful, harrowing drama that is more real than entertaining.

The film begins with a family driving in the car singing to country music led by Ruth (Glenne Headley), her husband Travis (Richard Todd Sullivan), and her brother Earle (Michael Rooker) as they’re all drinking and singing. Sleeping in the back is the young, pregnant Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh) as Earle looks on with glee until their car crashes behind a pickup truck leaving Anney flying through the windshield. Everyone survived including the baby Anney was carrying who they nicknamed, Bone. While Anney is happy about the birth of Bone, Ruth and Bone’s Granny (Grace Zabriskie) had a problem with who was the father of the child and Bone was certified a bastard in the state of South Carolina.

Anney raises Bone with her sisters Alma (Susan Traylor) and the hard-nosed Raylene (Diana Scarwid), and Alma’s husband Wade (Lyle Lovett). Anney is upset that Bone had been called a bastard as she tries to find a new husband. A few years later, she met a very nice young man in Lyle Parsons (Dermont Mulroney), who she later marries and for a while lived happily as a family with another child on the way. Lyle unfortunately, dies in a car accident leaving Anney to raise Bone and her newborn daughter Reese with her family. Years went by and Bone (Jena Malone) lives and plays with her sister Reese (Lindley Mayer) and her cousins in their rural, downtrodden home in South Carolina while Anney works with Ruth in a diner as a waitress. One night, Earle introduces Anney to his co-worker at a wood mill named Glen Waddell (Ron Eldard). Anney and Glen fall for each other as she introduces Glen to her kids. One night, Anney and Ruth saw the state records building burn as they burn the birth certificate of Bone as celebration since she won’t be considered a bastard anymore as Glen a day later, asks Anney to marry him.

Anney and Glen marry and at first, things seem fine when Anney was pregnant but Anney’s mother doesn’t think Glen is the man for her, especially with the temper he got that was displayed in a brawl at work and the fact that he’s from a rich family. Wade himself, doesn’t think Glen is right since he demands that the child should be a boy and the family are wondering what wrongs Glen would do. One night when Anney is in the hospital delivering her new child, Glen asks Bone to come up to front of the car and the first act of molestation occurs in graphic detail as Bone finds herself traumatized and frozen by the experience. Anney unfortunately, suffers a miscarriage leaving her no more chances to conceive as Glen decides to take Anney and the kids away from the family to do things on their own. The alienation from Anney’s family causes Bone to miss them and one day, when she’s holding a picture of Lyle and her when she was young, she was confronted by Glen to call her daddy and she says the word but without feelings as he tore the picture leaving her distraught.

For seasons at a time, Glen, Anney, Bone, and Reese would move very often as Glen has trouble keeping hold of a job making him shame his father (Pat Hingle) while Anney seeks money from her family but Glen refuses to take their money for pride. Glen has more trouble finding jobs as Anney is forced to feed the girls crackers and ketchup as she decides to make money by becoming a hooker for a night. Glen finally gets and holds a job just to tell his father but his father ignores him during a party while Bone accidentally drops a pitcher of ice tea making Glen’s father angry and Glen taking the blame. Glen forces all of the anger on Bone as he whips her relentlessly. Glen tells Anney he never meant to hurt her but the abuse keeps on going as Bone finds herself pale and bone-thin where a doctor examined her and tells Anney that she’s been abused.

Anney takes Bone to live with her family so she can be better but her sister Ruth is becoming ill as Anney works nights on her old waitress job. Bone takes care of Ruth while getting a visit from her cousin Dee Dee (Christina Ricci) who tells her stuff about men when she gets older as Bone would comfort Ruth singing gospel sermons. Bone comes home when she learns the news that Ruth had died and on the day of the funeral, Bone gets another beating from Glen as her Aunt Raylene discovers the scar forcing Earle and the boys to beat up Glen. Bone becomes disillusioned as she decided to live at Raylene’s for a bit while Anney is watching her sister Alma, after Wade had left her, where Bone tells her mother that she would live with mother if Glen isn’t around or else that leaves Anney torn in her decision and a final confrontation between Glen and Bone.

When the film was presented to Ted Turner in 1996, Turner found the film to be too graphic; he refused to release it forcing the film to be released independently until it got picked up by Showtime to rave reviews. This was the second film Turner had made complaints about that year, the other was David Cronenberg’s extreme-sex, car-chase film “Crash” and we all know Ted, loves to makes those crap Civil War films that no one cares about. A lot of praise should go to Anjelica Huston for not going further into melodrama or any generic-like storylines. Instead, Huston goes for the nitty-gritty in the film and in Anne Meredith’s script where at times, the film gets too intense in the abusive scenes involving Glen and Bone. The film’s bleak look is perfectly captured by Huston and cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond to convey that dreary tone of the 1950s South while the music of country and gospel is well-used, including “Walk The Line” by the late, great Johnny Cash along with a melancholic score from Van Dyke Parks, the famous lyricist for the legendary unreleased Beach Boys album “Smile”.

On the performance front, the film features a great cast of veterans and newcomers. Laura Dern definitely brings a dark, dramatic tone to her narration to convey the sadness and loss innocence of Bone. Jennifer Jason Leigh is amazing as the torn Anney who wants to provide a good life for her children but wants to be loved by a man. Ron Eldard is terrifying as Glen, who is very unlikable and you wish you could kill him too but Eldard does a great job in the portrayal. The supporting roles of Lyle Lovett, Grace Zabriskie, Susan Traylor, and Richard Todd Sullivan are well-used as Anney’s family leaving Glenne Headley to stand out as the spiritual Ruth, Michael Rooker as the tough but caring Earle, and Diana Scarwid as the hardnosed but philosophical Raylene. The smaller performances of Dermont Mulroney and Christina Ricci might disappoint some due to their lack of screen time but their respective characters do serve purpose to the story although fans of the book might wonder why they’re shortened. Veteran Pat Hingle is excellent as Glen’s bourgeois father while Lindley Mayer is charming as Bone’s little sister Reese, who serves the kind of innocence Bone has lost.

The film’s most impressive and harrowing performance is Jena Malone as Bone. In comparison to the breakthrough performances of her fellow peers like Natalie Portman in “The Professional”, Kirsten Dunst in “Interview with the Vampire”, and Scarlett Johansson in “Manny & Lo”, Malone is by far the best of all of them. Malone brings in a performance that is both sympathetic and troubling as we see a young girl filled with joy and innocence be shattered by the abuse she suffers. Even the first molestation scene where the light shines only on her eyes is very haunting which is very powerful, especially for a young actress when she was just 11 at the time the film was released. This performance would lead Malone to be a more subversive actress through family films like “Hope” and “Stepmom” to darker films like “Cheaters”, “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”, and the cult-classic “Donnie Darko”.

“Bastard Out of Carolina” is an excellent, intense film from Anjelica Huston that just displays realism rather than feel-good entertainment. Though she might not be in the league of her legendary father, this is still an excellent directorial debut. Huston’s direction and a rich cast led by Jena Malone makes “Bastard Out of Carolina” an interesting film though the subject matter of abuse is very uneasy to watch. Fans of Malone will find this as one of her best performance though she is really just getting started. For anyone who likes an excellent story and brilliant performances, “Bastard Out of Carolina” is the film for you.

Jena Malone Reviews:

Stepmom (1998):

(Coming in November)

Cheaters (2000):

http://www.epinions.com/content_114283089540

Life as a House (2001):

http://www.epinions.com/content_115870568068

Donnie Darko (2001):

http://www.epinions.com/content_102579146372

The Badge (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_118085619332

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002):

(Coming Soon)

The United State of Leland (2003):

(Coming Soon)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older