WHO’S IN IT?
Alan Cumming (Spy Kids), Garret Dillahunt (No Country For Old Men), Isaac Levya (film debut) Gregg Henry (United 93), Jamie Anne Allman (The Notebook), Chris Mulkey (Cloverfield), Don Franklin (The Young Riders), Kelli Williams (Lie To Me), Alan Rachins (Showgirls), Frances Fisher (The Host), Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Travis Fine (The Space Between), director, co-writer, co-producer; George Arthur Bloom (My Little Pony: The Movie), co-writer; Kristine Fine, Liam Finn and Chip Hourihan, producers; Joey Newman (The Space Between), composer; Rachel Morrison (Fruitvale Station), cinematographer; Tom Cross (The Space Between), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Inspired by a true story, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome named Marco (Levya) is left alone after his drug-addled mother is arrested. He is soon taken in by struggling musician Rudy Donatello (Cumming) and his partner, district attorney Paul Fleiger (Dillahunt), who both give him the love and care he was never able to have. But the couple’s relationship is soon discovered and, this being a biased 1970s Hollywood, they fight against the legal system to win permanent custody of the child they have grown to love…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
With releases like Behind The Candelabra, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Kids Are All Right, it is apparent that gay cinema is becoming more and more equally accepted with the mainstream audience. And tolerance to homosexuality isn’t just limited to the screen – laws were recently put into place earlier this year that legalised same-sex marriage in the UK as well as lifted bans in several US states such as California. With these revolutionary breakthroughs, the UK theatrical release of Any Day Now could not have better timing with its good-natured portrayals of two same-sex lovers who want nothing more than to start a family of their own.
However, it also brings to light some of the more pressing social and legal troubles for gay people during the decade in which this story is set. Homophobia, legal adoption and child neglect are a few issues that the film focuses on, all of which appear to have been delicately handled by director Travis Fine and his co-writer George Arthur Bloom who formed the basis of the script some twenty years ago before Fine gave it a rewrite. Some may be put off by Bloom’s credited work on My Little Pony: The Movie, and figure that a man who writes for cartoons about girly horses can’t possibly be qualified to script a mature take on homosexuality (although we are aware that there is an ever-growing, yet bizarre, fan-base for the newer My Little Pony cartoons). However, you’d be dead wrong, because early critics have praised the screenplay which tackles these social dilemmas for people in this time period with a firm attitude and a warm heart.
Much of that heart appears to come from lead actors Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt, both fine character actors in their own right who are finally given chances to shine, but the most eyes will undoubtedly be on debuting young actor Isaac Levya who plays the teenage outcast taken in by the loving couple. Levya, a fine example of young actors with Down’s Syndrome working today, seems to have the charm and warmth needed to give our main characters a spring of hope in their unconventional family while also standing tall as his own strong character. There’s no doubt that this trio of fine actors will win you over for a film that will have you laughing, crying, and just in general going “awwww” at the adorableness of it all.
Honestly though, Any Day Now is a film that deserves to be seen not just for its benchmark characters but also for its genuine warmth and heart to a very troubling historical matter. And in an age where those once looked down upon in public now have the legal right to get married, you’ll look back in time and laugh at how biased some people really were.
WHEN’S IT OUT?
FRIDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2013
