A wonderful, poignant story, beautifully acted against an Americana background. Quiet and deep. Sad and inevitable. The story is told, almost exclusively, through the eyes of a young (6-ish) boy, and the little man who played "Google-Eyes" brings a remarkable amount of depth and, could it possibly be insight?, into the character.
As an aside, the book upon which the play and subsequent movie was based, A Death in the Family by James Agee, was a Pulitzer prize winner. The American composer Samuel Barber used Agee's prologue to A Death in the Family for the text of his "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" - a concert piece for soprano and orchestra. Also a beautiful, almost languid experience.
This movie is almost a perfect distillation of the book, or at least, the perfect adaptation. There's a lot left out of the movie, a lot of background and some characters, but the movie still manages to capture the deepness of the story.
Beautiful cinematography, wonderful script, quiet interpretations, and a beautiful score.
I did find it available for purchase, just the movie, no extras, on iTunes. I think it's been edited, though, as I clearly recall seeing scenes on TV that weren't in the picture.
Catch this movie if you possibly can. And yes, bring some tissues.
