Accidents Happen

2009
6| 1h32m| R| en| More Info
Released: 23 April 2009 Released
Producted By: Red Carpet Productions
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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There are dysfunctional families... and then there are the Conways. After a family tragedy, 15-year-old Billy Conway has become the de facto glue between his bitter mom, distant brother, and stoic dad. But when Billy starts to act out, everything changes for him and his family

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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Director

Andrew Lancaster

Production Companies

Red Carpet Productions

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Accidents Happen Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
edwagreen The Conway Family goes beyond the definition of tragedy. This dark comedy is ridiculous at best because of the story-line-there are just too many unfortunate accidents occurring on the block where the family lives.We have an old lady running around after the bowling ball incident that you would swear resembles the late Ruth Gordon.With it all, there is still a remarkable performance by Geena Davis as the embittered frustrated mother. The car accident that killed her daughter and left her son in a vegetative state affected the two surviving sons and led to the dissolution of her marriage.The beginning with the neighbor burning to death on the grill and the surviving son's friend whose father is killed when the boy and the survivor toss a bowling ball and the father swerves in his car to avoid a direct hit.A direct hit was needed in the writing of this mess.
dancinqueen47 I just finished watching this on Netflix Instant Play & it was completely horrific. Pointless and depressing. It is not a dark comedy and it is not a comedy-drama. Geena Davis had about two moderately humorous lines - the rest of it was completely lacking in humor.Let me be clear, IMO, the acting was mostly acceptable & I found no fault with the direction. The problem was the writing...awful, awful, awful. You've gotta feel for the guy who wrote this - I'd hate to have a mind that could create something like this. I should have followed my instincts and turned this off after the first 15 minutes. But based on good reviews here, I figured it was bound to get better. It did not! Never again will I watch (or read) anything written by this guy!
eucalyptus9 Dodgy is the word that comes to mind when thinking about this movie. There's some dodgy acting to the point of amateurism, particularly in scenes between Doug and Billy. Although perhaps it wasn't entirely the actors' fault. Maybe it was dodgy scene setup, dodgy directing, dodgy dialog. Even Geena Davis looked a bit non-plussed at times.Then there's the dodgy basic premise of the movie. It's called "Accidents Happen" but, as noted elsewhere, most of the incidents that happen to this family are the result of their own rank stupidity.The dodgiest scenes occur towards the end of the film. Mrs Conway lies to the police, forces one of her sons to lie, and compels the complicity of her other son, his friend and his family. So Mrs Post mouths "Thank you" to Mrs Conway during the bingo game. Why exactly? Her son didn't steal the bowling ball, or fire it off down the road to cause her husband to swerve and die, so he's not going to jail. All that Mrs Conway's lie has done is rob her of her husband's insurance money. And she's saying Thank You? But the grossest scene of irresponsibility and outrageous stupidity is yet to come. Billy decides, with the encouragement of his frail neighbour who has hidden the bowling ball although she looks as though she could barely lift it, to once more send it on its way down a public thoroughfare. So off it goes, winding its way till it ends up in a culvert, from where it comes crashing like a cannonball out onto a public road, to cause whatever unpredictable mayhem. Perhaps this time it could have smashed into a car containing a family returning from a day at the beach and killed them all. Crikey, that would have been hilarious. Instead, it crashes into the police car, which is presumably meant to be funny. What are Billy and his mother going to do when the police come calling? Lie again? Hopefully, the cops will dust it for finger prints and put Billy and the rest of his family in jail where they all belong. Now, THAT would be funny.
Troy_Campbell Sydney director Andrew Lancaster did well to lure Geena Davis to our shores to star in Accidents Happen. I suspect he didn't have much hassle with a screenplay as biting and sharp as Brian Carbee's to use as bait. During a Q&A after the Australian premiere Davis herself admitted that she has always been drawn to interesting characters that challenge her; Gloria Conway definitely fits that mould. Carbee arms Gloria with acerbically humorous dialogue throughout – her quick wit a shield for the hurt that lies beneath – in addition to providing an idiosyncratic story about how different people cope with tragedy.It's hard to imagine someone else filling the lead role, Davis finds such a perfect blend of steeliness and vulnerability that she embodies Gloria completely. The non-spoken instances are given extra gravitas by the Oscar winning actress whilst Carbee's words are delivered pitch perfectly. At the other end of the age scale, the young Gilbertson (also seen in the recent Beneath Hill 60) is one to watch out for in the future. He almost runs away with the film as the emotionally-uncertain Billy, displaying a tremendous power in the dramatic scenes. Best of all, he and Davis share an excellent mother / son chemistry in the movie's most important personal connection, their dynamic relationship is a treat to watch.Kicking off his feature film CV, Lancaster has started strongly. His sturdy direction offers some memorable moments – the opening sequence comes way out of left field, but works all the better for it – although the slightly annoying 'Wonder Years' style voice-over probably could have been subdued. Lancaster demonstrates a terrific knack for slow motion; the aforementioned pre-credits sequence, the fateful car accident and a touching scene near the end all showcase the tremendous effect slow mo can have if used correctly. Hopefully this affecting little film marks the beginning of a long career for Lancaster.With a shamefully limited theatrical run in Oz, don't let this one slip you by: write it down to buy the DVD later this year.4 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)