Best Film
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Francine2012
After years of incarceration, a quiet, lonely woman, Francine (Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo), is released to start a new life in a small, rural town. But despite opportunities for warmth and connection, her years of “rehabilitation” have left her with little ability to create relationships and happiness, finding her only solace in her connections with animals. What happens when a second chance isn’t enough?
What makes this film worth watching?
"As a 74-minute snapshot of an American at the low end of the struggling 99%, it speaks far more eloquently than poverty statistics." - David D'Arcy, Screen Daily
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Starring
- Victoria Charkut - Linda
- Dave Clark - Pet Shop Manager
- Diana Greenhut - Bus Rider
- Heather M. Kayal - Girl with Boy at Arcade Machine
- Linda Kutrubes - Clergy Member #2
- Melissa Leo - Francine
- Keith Leonard - Ned
- Michael Power - Clergy Member #3
- Laurent Rejto - Clergy Member #1
- Barbara Sebring-Forman - Hellen
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Member Reviews (9)
top reviewer
Reminiscent of "Wendy and Lucy" in terms of it being a character study with little extraneous dialogue. If you enjoyed that movie, this one will interest you as well. Great work by Melissa Leo.
3 members like this review
top reviewer
Melissa Leo is excellent. Her character tries to make connections in any way she can. Some won't help, some she can't follow through on, and some are just mistakes. This is a quiet look at a disturbed woman who tries and tries again.
2 members like this review
top reviewer
Slow moving tale. Well acted by Melissa Leo working with a minimalist script here. Tough vet scenes to sit through, a bit graphic.
1 member likes this review
Bleak film, but Leo is pretty good in a role that requires her to hardly speak, though she's on screen at all times. Some veterinary scenes that some will not be able to watch.
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
As another in a string of trendy minimalist independent films which, while offering good acting (though in a very limited fashion) and at times an interesting photographic "journal" of the minutiae of everyday life, FRANCINE ultimately fails to fully generate a significantly compelling and dramatic life situation with which to engage the viewer.
top reviewer
Melissa Leo is exceptional in the title role. She is almost good enough to make this film worthy, but not quite.
Characters trying to reconstruct their lives: ex-convicts, alcoholics trying to stay sober, a mother in a dysfunctional house. How can you do a puzzle if the pieces don't match? A compelling story with some brilliant (and sometimes tough) scenes, looking for an answer.
Understated. Wonderful performances in an unhurried mode.
i felt like her when i was watching it. just staring at nothing.