SYNOPSICS
Fresh Cut Grass (2002) is a English movie. Matthew Coppola has directed this movie. David Wike,P.J. Heslin,Darrell Larson,Katy Hansz are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2002. Fresh Cut Grass (2002) is considered one of the best movie in India and around the world.
"This is the summer of love, confusion, and the smell of fresh cut grass," says drifting protagonist Zac Peace (David Wike), an accomplished recent graduate. Zac arrives at his Long Island home depressed about his father's death, his mother's estrangement, and his own uncertain future. To pass time he mows lawns for his mentor, Sam (McCuffrey), a former publishing genius and current pot-smoking dropout from the rat race. Zac falls in love with Eastern Grace (Hansz), and shares with her his deepest feelings - expressed through letters written to his dead father. When Eastern inadvertently alerts Sam to Zac's writing potential, she sets into motion a cycle of events that brings an uplifting resolution to all their lives.
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Fresh Cut Grass (2002) Reviews
script lets the film down, 4/10 (spoilers)
I felt compelled to comment on this film after coming to this site to vote and seeing it had an 8.6 user rating; I almost fell out of my chair. Not that this is a bad film, it's just that a rating that high is ridiculous and misleading. Of course, only 13 people have voted so it's bound to come down somewhat-I wonder how many of these voters were involved with the film? The film has some positive qualities. I have to say that overall what I liked most was the look of the film, very minimalistic, unpretentious and just a tad ethereal. The cast is good too, and the idea of trying to find oneself after college is an appealing theme. The script is what ruins the film. It's on cruise control and things happen arbitrarily to the point where you begin to long for a cliché or three. This trait of the script really lets down the cast, since they are decent actors but even the best actors can't overcome mediocre writing. It bit off more than it could chew too-romance, finding one's self, overcoming personal issues, getting back together w/old friends...it just doesn't work. There's a lot of contrivance about too, particularly the initial meetings of the leads and how the protagonist's boss/friend happens to have contacts in the publishing industry so our protagonist (who of course is a great writer-if only he had the courage to share his work :)) can get published. I officially lost interest when the protagonist's coworkers had a philosophical discussion about mowing grass. I probably sound harsh, but there was potential here and it's too bad it fell through. I'll end this with two observations from the film that raised my eyebrow: -when going inside the restaurant where his to-be girlfriend works, the protagonist is offered a job completely out of the blue by her boss. -at one point the protagonist tells his girlfriend how, when he was younger, he stuck an action figure completely up his posterior. THAT is a new one by me folks.
A Remarkable Debut!
Matthew Coppola's 2000 directorial debut is a frustrating, but fascinating art film. Yes it is a tad uneven, and there are multiple flaws, but if I saw anything in this film, it was Coppola's arresting poetic vision. "Fresh Cut Grass" conveys a filmmaker on the road to greatness. David Wilke plays Zac, a college graduate who knows his life is at a crossroads, but tries hard to let time stand still in one unforgettable summer. He reprises an old lawn mowing job, meeting up again with his fowl co-workers who shine in some of the film's funniest moments. New recruits are working as well, and are outcast because of their Mexican race...in a crucial subplot, Zac consoles one of these men and is granted some golden advice in return. The real story kicks in when Zac meets the gorgeous Eastern, ironically named after a storm. She is obviously annoyed with the vulgarity of normal guys and in their first meeting she is clearly comforted by Zac. There is a distinct realism in their relationship; their first encounters ring abnormally true. After they get to know each other better, we learn of grief-filled traumas that the two have been faced with, and they ultimately help each other out. If anything, being with each other helps them escape these memories. A lesser director would have been comfortable with the film remaining in a romantic tone, but Coppola has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Themes of death, pain, abuse, uncertainty and love are all delt with in a passionate if not always balanced manner. This is far more ambitious than the standard romance film. It is highly original, but I would make a comparison to James Savoca's `Sleepwalk'. Right off the bat, Coppola eases into his story with grand shots of the suburban paradise Zac retreats into. He is good with capturing this feel of a temporary Shangri-La (look for the symbolic shots of Zac starting up his lawn mower). By the end, I was intoxicated with the beautiful atmosphere that could only be found in an independent film. The technical values need work, and I'm sure a bigger budget would have boosted this greatly. There are scenes with some honestly terrible lighting, and the DP certainly had trouble with night shots. There is some mismatched music that makes some scenes feel awkward, and simply didn't fit. Another thing I didn't like were some fantasy sequences that felt clumsy. Zac is interviewed on a metaphorical field of grass as to what he plans to do with his future. In every fantasy, he has a new career. These scenes were far too obvious to convey Zac's doubtful future, and they felt like something I would watch in my high school. I would strongly recommend `Fresh Cut Grass', however, for its daring turns and artful visual style. Look for a sequence that beautifully orchestrates Zac's struggle for oneness with himself as he wanders through the woods high off mushrooms. The conclusion of this particular scene is breathtaking. Watch this film for Copolla's dreamy vision, and try not to let the film's noticeable flaws get in the way. (3 and ½ out of 4)