The New Daughter

FEW SURPRISES FOR THIS ONE
As one gets older, you have the chance to watch great actors suddenly fall from grace. Some do so simply by getting older. Others do so by being put into movies that offer them up as the best part of the film. Such is the case with the release this week of THE NEW DAUGHTER starring Kevin Costner.

Costner plays John James, a recent divorcee who has moved his children to a rural town called Mercy in South Carolina. Son Sam (Gattlin Griffin) has no problems with the move. But daughter Louisa (Ivanna Banquero) is the typical troublesome teen, taking her anger out on dad while honestly feeling as if her mother has abandoned the entire family.

The James family has moved into a fairly large house, the stately two story southern white house with a large front porch. Here, John hopes to get back on track writing once more. The kids find the place incredibly boring and go exploring the grounds. Its there that they come across something odd, a mound in the woods nearby that...

MUCH BETTER THAN I EXPECTED
Limited theatrical release and then a quick appearance on DVD and Blu-ray retail shelves is usually a sign of a less than engrossing film.

But not always.

Although I am not a Kevin Costner fan, I was not bored by this involving, weird, atmospheric little horror story set in rural, contemporary South Carolina. Costner's performance is low key (some critics have called it "wooden") as single father, writer, John James who is trying to rebuild his family after a painful divorce and further burdened with sole custody and the all the requisite obligations of raising his teenage daughter Louisa (a terrific Ivana Baquero) and son (Gattlin Griffith).

The three have just moved into a remote house in a new location - a location apparently sacred to ancient dwellers on the land. There's a prominent burial mound on the property of peculiar interest to the James kids and to university anthropologists. As events unfold, Costner's character wrongly assumes the...

Not bad, expected alot worse
Well not expecting much from this movie, I was pleasantly surpised. Popped it in the blu ray, turned all the lights
off in the home theatre and I became quite drawn in to this movie.
The film maintains an eerie feel through out and definitely follows the " less you see, more you imagine" theme to it which I liked.
Would I buy this movie ? No...But felt it justified the rental $$.

At the end of the day a movie is supposed to entertain and this did.

Cheers

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