A Different Type of Movie

I am subscribed to a feed that updates weekly showing all of the new movies coming to theaters/DVD. It shows reviews and pictures every Wednesday or Thursday. A few months ago, a different movie appeared on the list. This was my introduction to in:

Chris Marino is a young kid with a big problem. Too young to adequately deal with his mom's mental illness, he looks to his father for guidance. However, his dad ends up getting seriously injured at his construction job, so the authorities arrive to throw his mother into an institution. Then when his dad retreats from reality himself and commits himself to building a giant sailboat in the driveway, poor little Chris is forced to grow up by himself quick.

In and of itself it sounds like nothing special. Then I did some more research and learned that the 'mental illness' was schizophrenia. Considering I work with it on a weekly basis, the idea of the film intrigued me so I saved it to my Netflix queue and waited for it to show up. When it finally did, I was not in the mood to watch. Nonetheless, I decided to. I am extremely glad I did.

I appreciated this film from two different perspectives. The first was being able to see the pain and torture that a family experiences when dealing with schizophrenia. It was an accurate portrayal when schizophrenia was involved. It is not an easy illness and it is very challenging for everyone involved. Secondly, this movie unintentionally suggested a solution which rings true to the systemic view that I hold. It didn't hit you over the head with the solution, but it was also rather subtle. Without being familiar with this framework, it may unintentionally pass as just a 'happy ending.' In case you're wondering, the film was called Canvas.

It was most definitely a 5 star movie I would recommend to anyone who does not understand this illness and wants to. And if you don't want . . . I'll post something different a few weeks.