Mom's
life is anything but the All American Dream. Both her and brother Alex,
played by John Preston are dealing with their own issues, including being
abandoned by their father when they were children. Both siblings processed the
abandonment in different ways and what Andy really wants is for her son to be
"normal" so that she can live out her fantasy of having a somewhat traditional
family and life. It's as if she's declared that the only bearing her past has on
her future, is that it is just that, the past.
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As a harried single mother in Normal Heights, USA, Andrea
is having a tough time of it. Although her son Joshua is a smart, happy
and enthusiastic ten-year-old, she worries that he’s on the wrong track. With
each summons to the Mother Superior’s office at Joshua’s private school,
Andrea searches for answers to a nagging problem: How can she convince him that
aspiring to be on the cheerleading squad, relishing the art of the French
braid and calling Maria von Trapp his most influential role model is just
not what little boys do? When you wish for a son on the wrestling team, how do
you deal with one who loves fashion, dolls and pyramid formations? In this quirky and touching take on the modern family, one woman must strip away all her illusions to seek a kind of peace with herself and her son. Some hard advice from her gay next-door neighbor Charlie helps Andrea turn her focus in the right direction: inward. Embracing Joshua’s individuality rather than fearing it might be the only answer, but can she do it? With comically truthful performances and a healthy dash of wacky farce, Ready? OK! explores a family on the verge of either destruction or elevation. Sometimes all it takes to figure things out is a deep breath and the perfect cheer. (Kristine Kolton, Frameline32) |
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Ready, OK! Reviewed by Mark Haines |
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For so long the story lines in LGBT films have dealt with coming out, HIV and accepting your sexuality. In a measure of how far we have come two recent films, including Breakfast with Scot (which we loved) and Ready, OK! deal with different perspectives on raising a Gay child. Something more than a few parents need help with! In Ready, OK!, an exuberant young boy named Joshua, played by Lurie Poston wants to live out his dream of being a cheerleader. With the encouragement of the repressive nuns and faculty at Joshua's private Catholic school, his mom Andy, played by Carrie Preston, is trying to turn him into a wrestler. Fortunately for Joshua, an eccentric gay neighbor, Charlie, played by Michael Emerson, has his back and gently guides his mom into accepting her ten year old son's interests in activities that are less than 100% masculine.
The main characters in Ready, OK! all have extensive acting credits in film and on television and the quality of their performances is definitely above that of many independent films. The film was written and directed by James Vasquez, whose inspiration came from a failed attempt in 2nd grade to participate in a school pep rally. Throughout the movie the dialogue and the script were convincing, but in a couple of scenes, the kids gayness just seems a little too out there to be imperceptible and you feel like slapping his mom into reality. That's the denial parents go through that leads them to make their boys wrestle when they want to play with dolls and form human pyramids. Where the movie really excels is in it's ability to deliver on it's mission, accept your kids for who they are, without the preachy overtones that often come with this kind of storyline. Instead, the moral of the story is often delivered with clever wit that prevents the need for spelling out the obvious. Even the Catholic School's mother superior isn't turned into a villain. Instead she is portrayed as a do-gooder looking out for Joshua's best interests that simply doesn't get what his interests are. Why would a boy ever want to be a cheerleader? We highly recommend Ready, OK!, one of the many great films at this year's Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Saturday, November 8
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