Desert Bloom

Amazon.com

A quartet of fine performances support this bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of the atomic bomb. Rose Chismore (Annabeth Gish, in her movie debut) is a shy girl measuring out her teenage days in Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1950. Both Rose and Las Vegas are on the cusp of change--the girl is experiencing the first awkward pangs of maturity thanks to a local boy, while the town is suddenly abuzz with scientists en route to the nuclear testing facilities at nearby White Sands and Alamogordo. But at Rose's home, life is at a standstill. Her stepfather (Jon Voight) is a traumatized World War II vet whose drinking and nightmares are leading to physical abuse, and her mother (JoBeth Williams) labors under a gambling addiction that threatens to tear down her sunny veneer. Rose finds herself sitting at both a physical and emotional ground zero. All that's needed is a spark to set off an explosion--which comes in the curvy form of Aunt Starr (Ellen Barkin), a brassy former beauty queen who's come for a quickie divorce and, hopefully, a new husband, just in time for the first A-bomb test. Desert Bloom is a gently moving film about growth, change, and maturity, for better and worse. It's buoyed by the strength of its leads; Gish, in particular, is a revelation. A fine sleeper for the whole family, with only a smattering of language and violence. Corr later wrote the similarly unsung Prefontaine. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews:

A Great American Story.......2007-03-29

Annabeth Gish gives a great performance as a young girl struggling to understand her life growing up in 1950's Las Vegas. Her mother is trying to keep their family together through some pretty hard times. The town is under constant threat of the A-Bomb. Rose's (Gish) stepfather is an alcoholic struggling with the demons of war. The story is great and I think many families with veterans can identify.

Compelling.......2005-03-23

Set near Las Vegas in 1950, this is a coming-of-age movie about a 13-year-old girl as she tries to deal with the turbulence in her family in the form mainly of her alcoholic stepfather (Jon Voight). An aunt is living with them for 42 days in order to fulfill the residency requirement to get a quicky divorce. The girl catches Voight and the aunt in an embrace one day, and bolts out. Voight finds her near a nuclear test site. The story is quite intelligent and compelling. The movie has strong character development, though some of the conflict is still fuzzy and unresolved.

The Walking Wounded.......2004-04-27

Sensitively told coming-of-age film set against Las Vegas and the early years of atomic testing. Rose (Annabeth Gish) is thirteen and very much wants to connect with stepdad Jack (Jon Voight), an alcoholic WWII veteran still possessed by the demons of combat. Trouble is, she's operating on one track, while he's operating on two, such that just when they seem at last to converge, he goes off on a delusionary binge. Movie is notable for the exceptionally fine performances of these two actors. Gish, tottering atop two gawky legs and peering out from the cosmetic curse of horned-rim glasses, is the very real, aching embodiment of adolescent angst. Hers has to be one of the finest, least mannered renderings of teen-age yearning and self-doubt in many, many years, and made even me, a hardened old curmudgeon, feel kindly toward the hopelessly pubescent. Voight's character is less sympathetic and more complex. Victimized by the evils of war and beset by alcohol and impotence, he's having trouble with his masculinity in a house full of women. He wants to fulflill a positive role for his wife and stepdaughters, but the inner turmoil keeps erupting unpredictably.You want Jack and Rose to connect, to heal one another's emotional wounds, but circumstance is against them. Movie leaves off on suitably ambiguous note as atomic test parallels emotional family blowup. We know time will take care of Rose's problems, but what of Jack. Film is not so much about dysfunction as it is about adolescence and the walking wounds of war, such that you'll remember the characters long after the various plot complications have subsided. What a fine piece of non-commercial movie making this is thanks to Sundance Productions and writer-director Eugene Corr. Their work along with that of the entire cast shows once again why "the obscure little movie with something to say" continues to be one of our finest film traditions.

A story of a troubled family.......2002-07-09

I think this movie was extremely good. Great acting by Annabeth Gish and Jon Voight. Having this movie be Annabeth's first big screen. About a troubled father who got hurt in the war and abuses his oldest step-daughter. A compeling story of protecting yourself, and love, and betraying the people you love.

Very troubling story........2001-05-05

Jon Voight is the stepfather with a drinking problem and a bad temper. Annabeth Gish plays his oldest stepdaughter who wants very much to be accepted by him. He is constantly badgering them about the A-bomb tests about to commence in the desert near Las Vegas. I just saw this movie on HBO.

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