Hey folks, Harry here with a looksee at WALKING ACROSS EGYPT, a film that... for us folks... has Mark Hamill on screen. Personally, I'll give anything a look that has him in it. Beyond the Star Wars trilogy, I have loved Mark in films like THE BIG RED ONE, CORVETTE SUMMER... Hell... If it hadn't been for Mark Hamill, I wouldn't of bought my computer that I created this site on. See... I really wanted to play WING COMMANDER III and 'be Hamill killing the Kilrathi). Unfortunately... for whatever reason people just don't use Mark enough in film. To me.. the guy really has the talent to be a Richard Widmark type of character actor in film. I've wanted to see Mark play a really psychotic villain ever since seeing the footage of him performing his JOKER voice in that old making of BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM special from a few years back.... Sigh... well... onto our special Genie...
WANTED: “A Really Good Distributor”
I recently had the privilege of seeing “Walking Across Egypt” at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, and I can’t begin to say enough about how wonderful this film is!! “Walking Across Egypt” is a screen adaptation of Clyde Edgerton’s book (of the same title), and the film delightfully captures all the humor, drama and southern charm that is found in Mr. Edgerton’s writing. This heartwarming, funny, and uplifting movie is centered around a kindhearted, feisty elderly lady named Mattie (played by Ellen Burstyn) who, despite her own reservations about how she is ‘slowing down’ too much to take care of ‘strays’, befriends a troubled youth named Wesley (played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas).
Ellen Burstyn does a wonderful job with this role, and portrays Mattie with just the right touches of humor, feistiness, and kindness, as well as a hilariously unflappable attitude that Mattie needs as she copes with all the chaos that Wesley brings into her life. Ms. Burstyn is also called upon in this role to portray a woman who is motivated by deep and sincere religious convictions, and Ms. Burstyn admirably does this without even the slightest hint of self-righteousness or pretentiousness. As Mattie unflinchingly sticks to her principles and tries to help Wesley -- despite mounting opposition and criticism from her son and daughter, her neighbors, and even her own clergyman -- we see a portrait of a person who gives more than mere lip-service to the concept of 'helping her fellow man'. Mattie, with her faith and unquenchable spirit (and aided by generous doses of her excellent home-cooking), triumphs in the end, and she quite literally saves the life of one of society’s throw-away children.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas also hands in a very fine performance in this film. I had reservations prior to the screening about how believable JTT would be in the role of a juvenile delinquent (who is in a Youth Detention Center/RC when Mattie first meets him), but I was pleasantly surprised at how well JTT handled the challenge of acting convincingly tough and aggressive within the menacing environment of the RC. Jonathan’s performance was outstanding throughout the film as he handled Wesley’s gradual transition from toughened delinquent into charming rascal, and then finally, in the very moving and heartrending climax of the film, into a young man who has internalized so well Mattie’s lessons about gratitude, honesty and courage, that he begins to act in accordance with these newfound values even in the direst of circumstances.
The supporting cast in “Walking Across Egypt” was also outstanding, and they added a lot to the texture of the story, not to mention supplying quite a few of the funniest moments of the film. In a film full of many fine performances, an especially good one was given by Mark Hamill, who played Wesley’s uncle, the good-natured local dogcatcher. It was quite enjoyable watching Mr. Hamill demonstrate his not-often-seen comedic talents, and the audience responded very warmly to his scenes. Harve Presnell and Gwen Verdon were also wonderful as Mattie’s neighbors: kindhearted, nosy, funny characters who try to ‘watch over’ Mattie and protect her from the ‘riff-raff’ that Mattie has taken into her home.
The *only* thing that disappoints about this film is its lack of a distributor. It saddens me to think of all the people, especially families with older children, that may be deprived of seeing this film, all for lack of a distributor. The movie was extremely well-received at the screening I attended, and the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy the moments of humor as well as the drama contained in the film; I firmly believe “Walking Across Egypt” would also receive this same warm reception with a more widespread audience. This movie is positive, life-affirming, and has an unabashedly good message. It deserves to be distributed, and it will truly be a shame if it is not.
Genie-Out-Of-Her-Bottle
