Resolving regrets

A Month of Sundays

DISTRIBUTOR: Nix Co.

RELEASE DATE: 28 April 2016

RATING: PG

‘You’ll never see anything like it in a month of Sundays’ was a favourite expression in the farming community I grew up in, and it serves as a suitable title for a new Australian drama starring Anthony LaPaglia. It’s an endearing tale about a real estate agent given an opportunity to resolve his greatest regret, which is certainly something that doesn’t come around every day.

In truth, most of us mistake moving on for the process of REDEMPTION.

A Month of Sundays is filmed in the picturesque suburbs of Adelaide and is written and directed by Matthew Saville, best known for his direction of the Joel Edgerton thriller Felony and the TV comedy-drama Please Like Me. The film borrows some of the comic timing of the latter, making good use of the dry wit of veteran funny man John Clarke as Frank’s boss, Phillip Lang. It is in essence a story about a man’s need to turn a corner in his life.

LaPaglia stars as Frank, a middle-aged man who has good reasons to feel remorse. He’s a real estate agent in the midst of a property boom who struggles to make any house sound good. His marriage to Wendy (Justine Clarke) has ended in divorce, even though she constantly returns to him for support. Son Frank Jnr. (newcomer Indiana Crowther) treats his father with all the disappointment a teenage boy can muster and his disdain defeats his father’s attempts to connect. Even a humorous attempt at ‘Eye Spy’ runs afoul of his son’s angst:

Son: Something beginning with … E.

Frank: Eastern suburbs?

Son: No.

Frank: I give up.

Son: Estranged husband.

However, it’s Frank’s regrets over his mother that take centre stage. She died at a time when they were emotionally distant and her passing has left him feeling he never had the opportunity to let her go. Consequently, when elderly Sarah (Julia Blake) makes a misdial and telephones him, Frank has no problem believing it’s his mother ringing for one last chat. LaPaglia and Blake’s on-screen interaction is pitch perfect, a combination of Mother & Son and Driving Miss Daisy. Their awkwardly begun friendship blossoms into a relationship that helps Frank discover the emotional release that drives the plot.

There’s something encouraging but peculiar about cinema’s penchant for second-chance stories like Frank’s. They trade on the fact we have no trouble believing anyone can experience an opportunity for redemption. Most revolve around a key moment wherein the character makes a choice to turn away from their path to failure.

A Month of Sundays’ relentless call to Frank to improve himself eventually results in a similar rise from the sack-cloth and ashes of his previous life. But how realistic is this sort of transformation? As my farming community used to say, how many men can really lift themselves up by their own boot laces?

In truth, most of us mistake moving on for the process of redemption. Audiences will warm to Sarah and Frank’s story but, even though he learns to get over his mother’s passing, there’s no indication he’s learnt from the experience. In Frank’s case it’s not so much repentance or even change that takes place as a decision to no longer let the past worry him.

A Month of Sundays is a clever, warm-hearted Australian tale that is well worth seeking out at the cinemas. It underlines how strongly we can feel the everyday sadness of losing those most closely connected to us. Yet it doesn’t need God on any of its Sundays because the characters don’t require any real rescue.

This review comes from The Lutheran May 2016. Visit the website to find out more about The Lutheran or to subscribe.