Sean Patrick Brennan Movies
Joe and his pal Joe are two simpletons who manage to eke out a modest living mowing lawns in their tiny Cape Cod village. This gentle comedy, marking the feature debut of director David Wall, chronicles their adventures when they meet a ghostly young woman in the town cemetery and she begins telling them all about the big treasure buried under their garage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Patrick Brennan, David Wysocki, (more)
A callous young priest charged with closing down a small-town parish finds his mission unexpectedly interrupted by compassion and human kindness in writer/director/star David Wall's introspective religious drama. Father Jonathan Keene (Wall) is a kind of holy hitman, a priest who travels the country closing down parishes that aren't considered economically viable by the archdioceses. When Father Keene first arrives in a remote village on a mission to shut down the Sacred Heart Chapel, he's simply concerned with getting the job done and moving along; human connections only serve to complicate matters. But before long, something unusual begins to happen -- not only does Father Keene begin to take interest in the town's beautiful librarian, but he enters into a series of weighty discussions with the priest he was sent to displace as well. Now, as the domineering Mrs. Worthington prepares to throw her annual holiday party that's always the talk of the town, a powerful but conflicted man of the cloth will finally take the pause needed to reflect on his true role in the church and spiritual commitment to the people. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Patrick Brennan, Jean Bates, (more)
Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom's follow-up to the underrated Once Around earned far more attention than its predecessor thanks to the judicious casting of perennial thinking woman's heartthrob Johnny Depp and a certain up-and-coming thespian by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio. A prisoner of his dysfunctional family's broken dreams in tiny Endora, IA, Gilbert (Depp) serves as breadwinner and caretaker for his mother and siblings following his father's suicide and his older brother's defection. Momma (Darlene Cates) is a morbidly obese shut-in who hasn't left the house in seven years; her children include retarded Arnie (DiCaprio), who's about to turn 18 despite a host of negative medical forecasts, and terminally embarrassed Ellen (Mary Kate Schellhardt), who's emerging from an awkward adolescence. When he's not taking care of the difficult but tender Arnie, Gilbert spends his time fixing up the family's tattered farmhouse, working at a failing mom-and-pop grocery store and hanging with local misfits Bobby (Crispin Glover), an overly ambitious junior undertaker, and Tucker (John C. Reilly), a handyman who hankers after a job at the new burger franchise. Into this complicated but essentially unchanging social universe steps Becky (Juliette Lewis), a thoughtful young woman who's been escorting her nomadic grandmother from state to state in a mobile-home caravan. As Becky teaches Gilbert to finally consider his own happiness for a change, she disrupts both his family obligations and his long-running affair with a lonely housewife (Mary Steenburgen). Adapted by Peter Hedges from his own novel of the same name, What's Eating Gilbert Grape was the first and only film role for non-actress Cates, whom the filmmakers discovered on an episode of the Sally Jesse Raphael Show titled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, (more)
