Movie-The Trip to Bountiful

I had always heard good things about The Trip to Bountiful (1985) and knew that Geraldine Page won an Oscar for lead actress for her role in the film. But I had never seen it until now.

The description of the movie does not do it justice, and is just plain wrong in fact. "Forced to live with her rotten son Ludie (John Heard) and his wife (Carlin Glynn), Carrie Watts (Geraldine Page) decides she's had enough." Her son is not rotten at all, just trying to find some peace between his mother and his wife. His wife isn't an angel, but Miss Carrie isn't either...she is stubborn and intrusive. And Ludie has these two women living in a small apartment in Houston.

But Carrie has one goal. She feels a deep abiding need to return to Bountiful, the town she was born and raised in, before she dies. And she feels that her time to do that is running out. So she takes off.

Now this could be a cliched story. If the son was indeed rotten, if the daughter-in-law was indeed really a bad person, if Miss Carrie was too angelic...all these things may have made the story too trite. But each character was complete. Ludie just wants some peace, and is willing to find compromise between his wife and mother to find it. He loves them both, and understands them both, even if they don't understand each other.

His wife is shallow, it is true. But she is pretty and wants to ENJOY life. She wants to laugh and live---and Ludie needs that in his life...a lot.

And Miss Carrie. I have to delve into how Geraldine Page portrays her here. Miss Carrie is an old woman, who seems not to quite realize she is old, except for the feeling she is dying. She is by turns coy, and flirtatious. She remembers love and romance, and seems to long for it still. She is obstinate in her ways, and if she does not get what she wants, she throws what can be called a temper tantrum. But she has an inner light that comes from all of that, and comes from that portrayal by Page. It is a performance that seems so un-self absorbed, but you know it has to come from real artistry, from a master of the craft of acting.

This is an exceptional movie, featuring an exceptional performance by Page.