Sweet Land

Monday, December 3, 2007

Sweet Land is a low key, feel-good, predictable comedy drama of modest charms. It apparently won an Independent Spirit Award, but it's such a straightforward crowd-pleaser that I don't think I can give it much street cred. It's the kind of movie your mother will really like. Maybe even your grandmother.

It tells the story of a German woman who travels to post-WWI America to marry a farmer she has never met. The community is xenophobic and causes complications for her. Meanwhile, after an awkward introduction, she and the farmer start to fall in love.

This is all played rather laid-back as opposed to melodramatic, which I appreciated. It's story has such a predictable arc that you can pretty much map out the rest of the movie step by step after the first 20 minutes or so. No points for guessing that the woman and the farmer slowly fall in love after initial hesitancy, or that the community slowly embraces them. What makes the movie somewhat enjoyable is the way it is told with easy going warmth and humor.

Alan Cumming plays a goofy neighbor, and no it's no surprise that he steals every scene he's in. The rest of the cast is, again, modestly charming and watchable. It's not exactly a compelling or exciting movie, but it's pretty hard to dislike it.

The worst thing about it is the weirdly convoluted wraparound story. The story is, I think, told in flashback by either the main character's son or grandson (I can't remember which), remembering his father or grandfathers funeral where the main character told the story of or flashed-back to the story I described above. Since the part in the 20s or 30s is the only interesting part, I don't know why they framed it with this twice removed story.

So, for one of these kind of movies, it's a somewhat entertaining but not particularly great example. I wish they could have put that quote on the DVD case.