03.12.2001 - World Premiere
Manna From Heaven
Sunday Richard and I attended the world premiere of Manna
From Heaven. This delightful feel good comedy was written, directed and
produced by a mother and her five daughters, hence their name, Five Sisters Productions.
The stellar cast included Academy Award winners Shirley
Jones, Cloris Leachman, and Louis Fletcher. Also appearing were Ursula Burton, Seymour
Cassel, Shelley Duvall, Jill Eikenberry, Frank Gorshin, Faye Grant, Harry Groener, Phil
LaMarr, Wendy Makick and Austin Pendleton.
The story explores in a delightlful yet insightful way the
dynamics of the "modern family" which is often composed of people related by
blood, marriage, and those that get "unofficially adopted" into the family.
An unexpected windfall of money manages to find its way
into the hands of the family and they choose to characterize the windfall as a "gift
from God" as a rationalization of why it should be theirs. They each express a dream
that this money will allow them to realize.
Many years later, Theresa, a sister who becomes a nun
believes that she has heard from God that they must return the money and the movie centers
on the adventures of bringing the family back together to "return" the money.
Through a series of delightful interactions we are able to
see how the money years ago never helped anyone reach a dream. In vastly different ways
each family member eventually finds out that it is in the "return" of the money
that they discover what is important to them and what their real dreams are.
This movie has witty and thought provoking dialogue without
becoming overly sentimental and sappy. Even the slightly smarmy character played by Frank
Gorshin has an empathetic quality.
In my view the real star of the film is Wendy Malik. Her
character has several scenes that use the nuance of body language and dialgue to make the
scene and characters very believable.
While some may believe that all the plot twists take the
viewer thru too many possibilities, I will disagree. This movie makes you feel like these
are real people with real problems. The many twists are necessary to show what I believe
is the theme of the film. That theme is an awareness of the impact the decisions we make
can have on people and lives that we do not directly know.
The staging and costumes of the film were well done and fit
the flow of the story. Some of the special effects were a little more than necessary, but
didn't distract from the overall story.
This one is highly recommended by me and hopefully you will
get to see this film in the theaters in a few months.
Rick McCauley
A heartwarming comedy, Manna From
Heaven, was written, directed & produced by a mother and her five
daughters.
Some well-known Hollywood names appear in this
flick like Shelly Duvall, Jill Eickenberry and Frank Gorshin.
This movie, a family movie created by a
family, follows a family who mysteriously receives cash from the sky - a miracle they
believe came from God.
When in actuality, it was the result of a
faulty latch on the back of a truck.
Years go by until one of the family members,
who grew up to be a nun, decides it wasn't a gift but a loan. Laughs ensue as the family
tries to raise all that money back after having spent it all.
A truly original comedy, which will have the
whole family laughing. I recommend this movie as one to take the family to on a rainy day
to raise the spirits.
Richard McCauley
