Suncoast

Inspirado na história semiautobiográfica de uma adolescente que, enquanto cuida do irmão com a mãe audaciosa, faz uma amizade improvável com um ativista excêntrico que protesta contra um dos casos médicos mais marcantes de todos os tempos.
I was looking forward to this but was somewhat disappointed by it. Nico Parker stands out as the lone bright spot in the starring role, Doris. Doris’ brother has just entered into hospice care and her mom, Kristine (Laura Linney), has essentially moved into the care facility leaving Doris to fend for herself at home. Doris, who’s weary from having been the one responsible for caring for her brother to this point finally finds some space for making some friends at her school and finding a life outside of her home. She throws parties at her now empty house, skips school to get fake ID’s, goes to clubs and goes to school dances. While her mom has lost sight of the fact that she still has a daughter with needs and wants of her own, Doris has lost sight of the fact that she needs to grieve the loss of her brother.
I was expecting an emotionally moving drama, but none of the dialogue, characters, or drama felt authentic at all. It’s ironic because this is based on a true story by the writer/director Laura Chinn. The dialogue between Doris and her friends in particular never rang true to me. Kristine’s tirades with the security officer, and Doris’ befriending of Woody Harrelson’s character felt also very contrived. Then the inclusion of Terry Schiavo being at the same hospice facility (even though it’s true) felt like an unnecessary inclusion. The Terry Schiavo case is such a potentially loaded topic, thematically, that it’s sort of weird to only be part of the window dressing here. I’m not going to recommend it, but I will be curious if this hits people differently than it did for me.
I was looking forward to this but was somewhat disappointed by it. Nico Parker stands out as the lone bright spot in the starring role, Doris. Doris’ brother has just entered into hospice care and her mom, Kristine (Laura Linney), has essentially moved into the care facility leaving Doris to fend for herself at home. Doris, who’s weary from having been the one responsible for caring for her brother to this point finally finds some space for making some friends at her school and finding a life outside of her home. She throws parties at her now empty house, skips school to get fake ID’s, goes to clubs and goes to school dances. While her mom has lost sight of the fact that she still has a daughter with needs and wants of her own, Doris has lost sight of the fact that she needs to grieve the loss of her brother.
I was expecting an emotionally moving drama, but none of the dialogue, characters, or drama felt authentic at all. It’s ironic because this is based on a true story by the writer/director Laura Chinn. The dialogue between Doris and her friends in particular never rang true to me. Kristine’s tirades with the security officer, and Doris’ befriending of Woody Harrelson’s character felt also very contrived. Then the inclusion of Terry Schiavo being at the same hospice facility (even though it’s true) felt like an unnecessary inclusion. The Terry Schiavo case is such a potentially loaded topic, thematically, that it’s sort of weird to only be part of the window dressing here. I’m not going to recommend it, but I will be curious if this hits people differently than it did for me.




















