Film review. St Frances, not your average family film.
Saint Frances is an independent film that did well at film festivals (remember them). Darkly it has been dubbed ‘an abortion comedy’ which is a bit harsh as abortion is just one part of the film. St Francis is like a three sixty-degree film that takes in abortion, child minding, post pregnancy depression and the birth of child. It is not hard to see why it did well at festivals, it is off beat, finding its dark humour in abortion and periods. The film goes on to combine periods and sex to humorous effect. Frances, the six-year-old child the Saint of what is an ironic film title. She is one of those crabby film kids whose genealogy can be traced back to Shirley Temple. These film kids have dialogue way beyond their years, reminiscent of The Comic Strip Presents Strike, ‘daddy, what’s job security?’ The film follows Bridget a millennial of a certain age, she is 34, part of the precariat who go from one casual job to another.
The first part of the film setting up Bridget in her world was for me the better part and those occasions she returns to that world I liked the film more. The world she returns to is her relationship with the younger guy Jace (Max Lipchitz). Prepare yourself for very original sex scenes of variable success that leads to Bridget getting pregnant only to follow this with an abortion. The strength of the film is that this does not become the centre of the film. The abortion is acknowledged but does not weigh the film down. The most cutting lines of the film occurs in the party scene where people ask, ‘and what do you do.’ Bridget is a server at a restaurant and that is her answer. One male party guest’s reply ‘that’s fine when you are in your twenties’ but Bridget is 34, ouch. It is at that party where she meets Jace a young man more in touch with the millennium generation than Bridget who labels herself as on the cusp of being a millennium. She is representative of a generation who went to university, gathered debts, and did not get the jobs they expected. The films dramatic centre occurs when Bridget gets a gig to babysit Francis for a couple Maya and Annie. Maya is a stay at home mother of recently arrived baby. Juxtapose this with Bridget who has recently had an abortion. Her wife Annie is a lawyer working all hours and is away from home much of the time. Into this steps Bridget, childminder for Francis and a confidant for Maya who is struggling emotionally.
There are two relationships in Bridget’s life during the film; one with Frances who she is child minding and the other with Jace (Max Lipchitz) who is also a server and one of the precariat Another one is when Bridget’s parents arrive to visit and for me, fills the film with more characters than the story needs. To add baggage, Bridget has a fling with a older guy who is a music teacher. Both additions; parents and music teacher bulk out the film when it needed to be tighter. Other scenes feel like additions that do not serve a purpose other than to take you away from the drama. One scene were they go to a fireworks display feels like it has been added to give the film a big cinematic scene or are the fireworks a metaphor to illuminate the sky signalling an optimistic future? More contrived is the scene were Francis, Bridget and Maya are in the park with Maya breast feeding her child. A pushy women comes up to voice her objections only to be met with a response so speech like it sounds as if its been read from autocue.
Despite its flaws Saint Frances is a film to see as one film on the road to greater things for Kelly Sullivan who plays Bridget with great affection and not some tragic figure. She also wrote the script that could have been tighter and introduced fewer characters. I look forward to more Kelly Sullivan films.
