The geezer movie has become as much a genre as the teen coming of age story, the superhero movie or the mega-scale action flick. Still Mine is the recent Canadian entry. It centers on Craig Morrison (James Cromwell), a quiet but tough old bird up in New Brunswick. Craig is still vigorous in his late 80s, a small scale lumberman, small scale farmer, carpenter and man of all work, who has somehow gotten hold of or hung on to 2,000 acres of what looks to be mostly timber land. Old age, the market and bureaucracy are beginning to close in on his independence. He gets rid of his small beef herd that no longer pays. He can no longer sell the strawberries from his one acre patch because the local packing house only accepts delivery in refrigerated trucks, and it isn't worth buying one on that small a scale. His seven children, in their 50s and 60s themselves, have increasingly strong opinions on how he and their mother should take care of themselves.
Worst of all, Irene (Genevieve Bujold) his beloved wife of 61 years, is gradually but visibly descending into Alzheimers. Their old farmhouse takes too much wood to heat, and Irene can't get around like she used to. She absolutely refuses to move to town or go into a retirement home. So Craig decides to solve the problem by downsizing to a smaller, one-story house that he'll build across the road. He's got the whole project in his head, and he's perfectly capable of doing it all by himself (with a little help from his oldest son's backhoe to dig the foundation), from sawing the lumber to painting.
Unfortunately, the local building code official won't let him. He insists on a building permit, filed plans, inspector approved lumber, and full compliance with the code. Craig just wants to be left alone to finish the job, growing more determined as Irene's condition worsens. The inspector keeps stapling stop work orders to the framing, Craig keeps taking them down, and his final confrontation with the local authorities is inevitable.
This is a very Canadian telling of the story. If it happened south of the border, there would be bumper stickers on Craig's pickup, there would be shouting and expostulation, and there would probably be firearms involved. Not in New Brunswick. People are stubborn and principled, but everyone is quiet, everyone is decorous, and the forces of law and order politely grind their glacial way forward to a sensible resolution. It's a sad, sweet, beautifully played little movie with a happy ending, and definitely worth seeing.
Worst of all, Irene (Genevieve Bujold) his beloved wife of 61 years, is gradually but visibly descending into Alzheimers. Their old farmhouse takes too much wood to heat, and Irene can't get around like she used to. She absolutely refuses to move to town or go into a retirement home. So Craig decides to solve the problem by downsizing to a smaller, one-story house that he'll build across the road. He's got the whole project in his head, and he's perfectly capable of doing it all by himself (with a little help from his oldest son's backhoe to dig the foundation), from sawing the lumber to painting.
Unfortunately, the local building code official won't let him. He insists on a building permit, filed plans, inspector approved lumber, and full compliance with the code. Craig just wants to be left alone to finish the job, growing more determined as Irene's condition worsens. The inspector keeps stapling stop work orders to the framing, Craig keeps taking them down, and his final confrontation with the local authorities is inevitable.
This is a very Canadian telling of the story. If it happened south of the border, there would be bumper stickers on Craig's pickup, there would be shouting and expostulation, and there would probably be firearms involved. Not in New Brunswick. People are stubborn and principled, but everyone is quiet, everyone is decorous, and the forces of law and order politely grind their glacial way forward to a sensible resolution. It's a sad, sweet, beautifully played little movie with a happy ending, and definitely worth seeing.