The Neon Bible (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Neon Bible


image_size =
caption =
director = Terence Davies
producer = Elizabeth Karlsen
Nik Powell
Olivia Stewart
Victoria Westhead
Stephen Woolley
writer = John Kennedy Toole (novel)
Terence Davies (screenplay)
narrator =
starring = Jacob Tierney
Gena Rowlands
Diana Scarwid
Denis Leary
music =
cinematography = Michael Coulter
editing = Michael Coulter
distributor = Strand
released =
runtime = 92 minutes
country = UK
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:134797~T0
imdb_id = 0113952

The Neon Bible is a 1995 drama film written and directed by Terence Davies, based on the novel of the same name by John Kennedy Toole. The film is about a boy named David (Jacob Tierney) coming of age in Georgia in the 1940s. His abusive father (Denis Leary) enlists in the army during World War II and disappears and David is left to take care of his mother (Diana Scarwid) with his Aunt Mae (Gena Rowlands) who is a singer. It was filmed in the state of Georgia, in the cities Atlanta, Crawfordville, and Madison.

The film was released in France in August 1995, the United Kingdom in October 1995, Australia in November 1995, and released in the United States on March 1, 1996.

Cast

*Jacob Tierney as David, aged 15
*Drake Bell as David, aged 10
*Gena Rowlands as Mae Morgan
*Diana Scarwid as Sarah
*Denis Leary as Frank
*Bob Hannah as George
*Aaron Frisch as Bruce
*Charles Franzen as Tannoy Voice
*Leo Burmester as Bobbie Lee Taylor
*Sherry Velvet as First Testifier
*Stephanie Astalos-Jones as Second Testifier
*Ian Shearer as Billy Sunday Thompson
*Joan Glover as Flora
*Jill Jane Clements as Woman
*Tom Turbiville as Clyde
*Sharon Blackwood as Schoolmistress
*Peter McRobbie as Reverend Watkins
*Ken Fight as Schoolmaster
*Dana Seltzer (credited as Dana Atwood) as Jo Lynne
*Virgil Graham Hopkins as Mr. Williams
*Ducan Stewart as Boy in Drugstore
*J.T. Alessi as Boy in Drugstore
*Duncan Stewart as Head Boy
*Frances Conroy as Miss Scover
*Marcus Batton as School Boy

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of critics gave the film positive reviews (based on 9 reviews). [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/neon_bible/ The Neon Bible - Rotten Tomatoes] . Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-08-27]

San Francisco Chronicle film critic Edward Guthmann said the film was poorly received when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, but called it "gorgeous" and "one of the year's most beautiful films." He said it was a rewarding film that requires a little faith from the viewer due to long, slow, "lingering shots that work as a kind of meditation." He described the revival meeting at night "like an Edward Hopper or Thomas Hart Benton painting come to life." [cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/07/10/DD31906.DTL |title=`Neon Bible' Is One to Savor Slowly |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Edward Guthmann |date=1996-07-10 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle] Judd Blaise of Allmovie gave the film 2 1/2 out of 5 stars and said "Some viewers will likely be frustrated by the slow pace and elliptical style, though others may be transfixed by the often stunning photography and poetic approach." [cite web|url=http://wm06.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:134797~T0 |title=allmovie ((( The Neon Bible > Overview ))) |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Judd Blaise |publisher=Allmovie] The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said one of the problems with the film was that it "may have succumbed to its own dreamy esthetic" by focusing on the same image too often, and that the end of the film "loses its balance." [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/library/filmarchive/the_neon_bible.html |title=The Neon Bible |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Stephen Holden |date=1996-03-01 |publisher=The New York Times]

Stephen Brophy, a staff reporter for The Tech, said "Terence Davies' latest film looks as ravishing as Distant Voices, Still Lives, or The Long Day Closes" but that the plot was weak and that the ending of the film was absurd. [cite web|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V116/N19/neonbible.19a.html |title=Strong acting can't help Neon Bible overcome weak plot |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Stephen Brophy |date=1996-04-19 |publisher=The Tech] San Francisco Examiner critic Barry Walters said the film was "unrelentingly downbeat" and that "it starts off dark and gets darker". He called it "one long crawl into an emotional abyss without catharsis" and said that the director Davies had created a nightmare. [cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1996/07/10/STYLE15028.dtl |title="Neon Bible' glows darkly |accessdate=2007-08-27 |author=Barry Walters |date=1996-07-10 |publisher=San Francisco Examiner]

The film was shown on two screens in the United States and grossed $78,072 in its theatrical release. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=neonbible.htm The Neon Bible (1996)] . Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-08-27]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0113952|title=The Neon Bible
*rotten-tomatoes|id=neon_bible|title=The Neon Bible
*mojo title|id=neonbible|title=The Neon Bible