Where the Crawdads Sing

 

Where the Crawdads Sing 2022

• Director: Olivia Newman
• Based on the book by Delia Owens
• Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr, Garret Dillahunt
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Harris Dickinson – The Darkest Minds
• David Strathairn – Nomadland, UFO, American Pastoral, Hotel Marigold 2, The Tempest, Good Night and Good Luck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A League of Their Own, Matewan
• Michael Hyatt  - Like Crazy, Fame, The Big Bang Theory, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Wire, Veronica Mars, Six Feet Under, The Good Girl
• Garret Dillahunt – Widows, 12 Years a Slave, Any Day Now, Winter’s Bone, The Road, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men
• Why? Curious
• Seen: 9 November 2023                   

             Maybe it was all the hype that made me find the book underwhelming. Still, I’m curious about the film, expecting it to be beautifully filmed at least.

       It starts with the Marsh Girl (Edgar-Jones) being arrested for the murder of the town’s high school football hero (Dickinson). Reluctantly she tells the lawyer (Strathairn) her background.

       Kaya’s father (Dillahunt) is an abusive drunk. First her mother leaves, then her older siblings, then her pa. She’s all alone to fend for herself in the marsh.

       She survives by learning from the marsh with help from the kindly black couple who run a near-by general store (Hyatt and Macer) and the neighbour boy Tate (Smith) who teaches her to read. Etc.

       Yes, the nature is beautiful but the story is banal. Like the book, over-hyped.

 2* of 5