Loggerheads

Rank

Top 40% of all time (see others with this rank)

Festival Year

2005 (click here to see all competition films from this year)

Category

Dramatic Competition

Cast

Bonnie Hunt, Kip Pardue, Tess Harper, Christ Sarandon, Michael Learned, Michael Kelly, Robin Weigert

Non-Cast Credits

Tim Kirkman, Lillian Lasalle, Stephen Hays, Gill Holland, Cindy Tolan, Les Franck, Zeke Zelker, Oliver Bokelberg, Caitlin Dixon

Description

Inspired by a true story, Loggerheads skillfully interweaves three stories -- each in a different year on Mother's Day weekend in North Carolina. Grace has returned to her hometown to stay with her mother and search for the child she secretly gave up for adoption when she was a teenager. Mark makes a pilgrimage to a small costal town to save the endangered loggerhead turtles that nest there. When he meets George, a local motel owner, he must decide whether to move on or risk settling down. When Elizabeth's safe, sheltered neighborhood starts to change around her, she must decide whether to stand by her minister husband's beliefs or take a stand on her own.

Writer/director Tim Kirkman peels back the layers of repressed emotions and examines what it means to need family. Exquisitely shot and dramatically restrained, Loggerheads is that rare film that touches our hearts and stimulates our minds. It's about the politics of adoption rights and the longing for connection that exist in everyone. The performances are inspired and suffused with melancholy by the topnotch cast. Skillfully meshing the different stories into a film of poignant grace, Kirkman creates a compelling vision distinguished by images and landscapes both physical and emotional, that are absolutely unforgettable.

Reviewer

Trevor Groth (see other films reviewed by the same reviewer)

Film Takes Pace.