Saturday, May 21, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Film Review

This Is Martin Bonner (2013)

Kevin Matthews by Kevin Matthews
June 26, 2013
in Film Review
14
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Some films pack in plenty of whatever their respective genres call for. Action movies pack in the fights, comedies pack in the chuckles, etc. Some films, on the other hand, simply serve as a chance to meet some interesting characters. There doesn’t need to be any big journey, although there often IS a journey, and it’s sometimes good enough just to meet these new, fictional people and become engrossed in their lives for a while. Sometimes. There are times when movies go for such an approach and turn out to be quite horrible to watch. Thankfully, This Is Martin Bonner is one of the good ones.

Writer-director Chad Hartigan has created something very sweet, without making it too schmaltzy. He walks a thin line, and I’m sure that a few people will disagree with my opinion, but he gets it just right, helped in no small part by two great central performances from Paul Eenhoorn and Richmond Arquette.

You might also like

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

The Innocents (2021) – Film Review

Father Stu (2022) – Film Review

The basic story is all about, funnily enough, Martin Bonner (Eenhorn). Martin is a divorced man who is now learning a job in which he tries to help convicted criminals to make the transition from prison life back to life in the outside world. Despite being “the new guy”, Martin makes a very good first impression of the recently released Travis (Arquette). Travis has a mentor already assigned to him, Steve Helms (played by Robert Longstreet), but he doesn’t feel quite as relaxed in front of Helms, due to the strong Christian beliefs held by the man. From this starting point, Martin and Travis develop a friendship and the two seem to bring out the best in one another.

This Is Martin Bonner works as well as it does for two reasons. First, Martin and Travis are such great characters. Martin may be a good guy, but he’s not painted as someone who is perfect or thinks himself above others. Travis may also be a good guy, but has a lot of baggage to carry around in life until he deals with enough of his history to start letting some of it go. Part of that process is shown in an important meeting with his daughter (played by Sam Buchanan), a sequence that the whole movie rightly treats as a centrepiece for a number of reasons.

Second? From the writing to the acting from the two leads to the unfussy direction, everything about the movie has an air of authenticity to it. That’s probably to do with Hartigan writing about what he knows (his father was in a very similiar situation to Martin Bonner) and dedicating himself to perfecting his work at all costs – he moved to Reno, leaving behind a job and apartment, to write the script and immerse himself in the film that he was creating.

Hartigan deserves a lot of praise. Eenhoorn, Arquette, Buchanan and Longstreet deserve a lot of praise. This gem of a movie deserves a lot of praise. Give it a watch when you get the chance.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: CHAD HARTIGAN
STARS: PAUL EENHOORN, RICHMOND ARQUETTE, SAM BUCHANAN, ROBERT LONGSTREET, JAN HALEY
RUNTIME: 83 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: USA

Film Rating: ★★★★☆

Tags: chad hartigandramaEIFFEIFF 2013festivaljan haleypaul eenhoornrichmond arquetterobert longstreetsam buchananthis is martin bonner
Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews lives in Edinburgh and has done for some time. He loves it there and he loves movies, especially horrors. No film is too awful to pass through his cinematic haze.

Related Posts

Benediction (2021)
Film Review

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

by Jasmine Valentine
May 19, 2022
The Innocents (2021) – Film Review
Film Review

The Innocents (2021) – Film Review

by William Stottor
May 17, 2022
Father Stu (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Father Stu (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
May 12, 2022
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Film Review

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) — Film Review

by Jasmine Valentine
May 11, 2022
The Takedown (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

The Takedown (2022) – Film Review

by Maxance Vincent
May 9, 2022

Recommended

When Night Falls (2012)

June 20, 2013

Friday The 13th – Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

October 12, 2011

Don't miss it

Benediction (2021)
Film Review

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

May 19, 2022
Top 100 Greatest Movies Films
Spotlight

100 Greatest Movies (and 50 Honorable Mentions)

May 20, 2022
The Innocents (2021) – Film Review
Film Review

The Innocents (2021) – Film Review

May 17, 2022
Father Stu (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Father Stu (2022) – Film Review

May 12, 2022
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Film Review

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) — Film Review

May 11, 2022
The Takedown (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

The Takedown (2022) – Film Review

May 9, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....