Susan Granger’s review of “SPRING FORWARD” (IFC Films)
Like “My Dinner With Andre,” this off-beat, character-driven film, written and directed by playwright Tom Gilroy, is built around conversation, an exchange of ideas, a growing friendship. Liev Schreiber plays Paul, a neurotic, hot-tempered ex-con, recently released from prison in Danbury, Connecticut, for an armed robbery of a convenience store on the Merritt Parkway. His first job is as the new assistant to Murph, a mild-mannered Parks & Recreation worker who is nearing retirement – that’s Ned Beatty. Although their relationship gets off to a prickly start when Paul tells off an arrogant, unreasonably demanding yuppie (Campbell Scott) whose family donates fertilizer to the public works department and they differ on how to treat a drunken vagrant (Ian Hart), an unlikely bond soon develops between the two disparate men. As the story unfolds, we discover Murph has his own demons to fight as his homosexual son battles with the ravages of AIDS. And Paul discovers romance in the form of a lonely schoolteacher (Peri Gilpin from TV’s “Frasier”) who fancies dogs. Progressing through seven real-time episodes, and shot in sequence over the course of a year, the theme is how each man changes the other’s perspective on life. It’s a worthwhile meditation on communication that plays thin as a theatrical release but has, understandably, garnered support from the Independent Film Channel. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Spring Forward” is a slowly paced, unpretentious yet insightful 6, highlighted by remarkable performances by both Liev Schreiber and Ned Beatty.
