Designed as a comedic animal rights drama, this low budget production fails to deliver with any of its purposes, cumbered as it is by torpid direction and wildly uneven acting, in addition to its script that runs short of petrol notwithstanding good intentions, wasting contributions from some talented performers and technicians as it wobbles to its low-heat conclusion. Troubled teenaged Francis Phillips (Christopher Pettiet), living only with his mother (Cindy Pickett) since his father abandoned the family, is assigned for remediation by a juvenile court judge, following his ongoing lapse into truancy and other misconduct, to an animal shelter managed by Ray Whitney ( Wayne Rogers) who befriends the boy although unable to convince Francis that euthanasia is a pragmatic solution for abandoned animals not saved through a process of adoption. The storyline centers about a parrot owned by the youth's high school principal (Concetta Tomei) who is convinced that Francis stole her pet bird as well as a valuable ring, and there are several subplots that are underdeveloped, hindered by flawed continuity and unclear character motivation, all scored by the director's inability to move along interior business of the scenario. Shot in Salt Lake City and environs, many of the film's cast and crew are locals, but it is Cindy Pickett, ever a resourceful performer, who easily garners the acting laurels, with Pettiet having little range, Rogers unable to create his part and Tomei, in a double role, hammy and misdirected in each, while a hurried ending is so egregiously filled with cliche that a viewer is stupefied by a work that has turned into a tract.
2 Reviews
Lovely family film with a sensational performance by Pettiet
richtharr30 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I'm afraid our friend rsoonsa is guilty of misreading several films apart from 'The Goodbye Bird'. In fact, this is a warm film about truant teenager Francis 'Frank' Phillips gaining respect from the adults around him and finding a place in the world. Thus, it is ultimately a film about redemption and salvation.
One of the strengths of the film is its low-key opening and the wistful atmosphere created by first the non-diegetic piano music and that of the mouth organ. The opening scenes help flesh out Frank's character, as he is seen by Judge Julius Bartlett (Jesse Bennett) and told "sometimes the person you save may be you", setting up the theme of redemption which permeates the film. Frank also suffers a very unsettled home-life (his Father is absent, and later writes to say he will never come home, whilst his Mother Sharon initially lounges in bed). The reputation Frank has for transgressions make his interview with Miss Van Borins both uncomfortable and amusing- he can see the parrot escaping, she can not. That Frank is subsequently accused of stealing the parrot introduces the familiar theme of injustice, wittily undercut by Doris and her wildly eccentric behaviour.
The real thrust of the film's narrative concerns Frank's methods of saving the unadopted animals from euthanasia whilst developing a friendship with Miss Van Borins' parrot. Frank's increasing awareness of the shelter and its procedures motivate him to rescue animals with a youthful disregard of future consequences and is mirrored in the film's mise-en-scene. Thus, the black baseball cap worn by Frank at the start of the film is changed for the white cowboy hat (ironically sent to him by his absent Father), but events conspire to close in on Frank and his schemes.
Although the ending of the film is a little clichéd, it does satisfy the expectations set up by the film's narrative- that Frank's humanity will be recognised and he will succeed. The mutual understanding amongst the adults that (apart from Ray and Doris) often have negative comments to make about him is heartwarming, as is Frank's return to the animal shelter.
Overall, 'The Goodbye Bird' lacks pretentiousness and does not have a glossy 'high concept' aura with an overpaid superstar cast. It is a very gentle family film, with perhaps too many narrative strands but highly enjoyable performances, not from (as rsoonsa states) Cindy Pickett, but from Wayne Rogers and the film's young lead.
Finally, 'The Goodbye Bird' is inseparable from the brilliant performance of Chris Pettiet as Frank Phillips, by turns sensitive, dry and compassionate. Despite the film's positive imagery and upbeat message, the feeling the film leaves me with is one of great sadness- Chris Pettiet was not an actor who made hundreds of movies. married five times and lived to be eight decades old. Instead, he had too little time in the world, and did not reach 25 years.
Whatever its other merits (and, as I have argued, these are not merely to be dismissed by those without sufficient engagement or knowledge), 'The Goodbye Bird' captures a moment in the life of Chris Pettiet, and as such, is to be celebrated and preserved for eternity.
One of the strengths of the film is its low-key opening and the wistful atmosphere created by first the non-diegetic piano music and that of the mouth organ. The opening scenes help flesh out Frank's character, as he is seen by Judge Julius Bartlett (Jesse Bennett) and told "sometimes the person you save may be you", setting up the theme of redemption which permeates the film. Frank also suffers a very unsettled home-life (his Father is absent, and later writes to say he will never come home, whilst his Mother Sharon initially lounges in bed). The reputation Frank has for transgressions make his interview with Miss Van Borins both uncomfortable and amusing- he can see the parrot escaping, she can not. That Frank is subsequently accused of stealing the parrot introduces the familiar theme of injustice, wittily undercut by Doris and her wildly eccentric behaviour.
The real thrust of the film's narrative concerns Frank's methods of saving the unadopted animals from euthanasia whilst developing a friendship with Miss Van Borins' parrot. Frank's increasing awareness of the shelter and its procedures motivate him to rescue animals with a youthful disregard of future consequences and is mirrored in the film's mise-en-scene. Thus, the black baseball cap worn by Frank at the start of the film is changed for the white cowboy hat (ironically sent to him by his absent Father), but events conspire to close in on Frank and his schemes.
Although the ending of the film is a little clichéd, it does satisfy the expectations set up by the film's narrative- that Frank's humanity will be recognised and he will succeed. The mutual understanding amongst the adults that (apart from Ray and Doris) often have negative comments to make about him is heartwarming, as is Frank's return to the animal shelter.
Overall, 'The Goodbye Bird' lacks pretentiousness and does not have a glossy 'high concept' aura with an overpaid superstar cast. It is a very gentle family film, with perhaps too many narrative strands but highly enjoyable performances, not from (as rsoonsa states) Cindy Pickett, but from Wayne Rogers and the film's young lead.
Finally, 'The Goodbye Bird' is inseparable from the brilliant performance of Chris Pettiet as Frank Phillips, by turns sensitive, dry and compassionate. Despite the film's positive imagery and upbeat message, the feeling the film leaves me with is one of great sadness- Chris Pettiet was not an actor who made hundreds of movies. married five times and lived to be eight decades old. Instead, he had too little time in the world, and did not reach 25 years.
Whatever its other merits (and, as I have argued, these are not merely to be dismissed by those without sufficient engagement or knowledge), 'The Goodbye Bird' captures a moment in the life of Chris Pettiet, and as such, is to be celebrated and preserved for eternity.
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