Little Accidents

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Sara Colangelo/Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Chloe Sevigny, Josh Lucas, Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Lofland and Beau Wright

Based on her short film of the same name, Little Accidents is writer/director Sara Colangelo's first feature film and her freshman effort yields gold. Set in a small West Virginian mining town, Colangelo's film tells the story of a tragic mining accident that leaves the population emotionally frayed and socially divided. The disaster, which claims ten lives, arouses class conflict, discord between the town and the mining company and leaves homes financially and emotionally devastated. But the film isn't an examination of the town in the wake of the disaster. By narrowing its focus to three characters, it tells a broader, more moving story about the culture of a mining community and how all its residents are severely affected in some profound way by the accident.

One such person is Owen (a stellar Jacob Lofland); a lonely high school kid who lost his father to the mining disaster. Owen, his brother James (Beau Wright) and his mother Kendra (Chloe Sevigny) make do as they await the mining company settlement they hope will alleviate their afflicted finances.

Owen spends his days trying to ingratiate himself into a clique of classmates whose home lives are defined by a loftier sense of privilege, unlike the majority of the poor, working class town inhabitants. The other boys barely tolerate his presence; often mocking his social status and visiting minor humiliations upon him, like deliberately breaking his MP3 player.

In another part of the small town is Amos Jenkins (the charismatic and handsome Boyd Holbrook); the only survivor of the mining accident and the recipient of widespread hero praise, which causes him not a little discomfort. When we first see Amos, he is fielding questions about the accident, which he is hesitant to discuss. Pressured by management, the union representative and his fellow miners to tell self-serving versions of the catastrophe, Amos also must cope with an injury that has incapacitated one of his hands and left him with a noticeable limp.

While sneaking out of his home one day; his mother's beers in hand, Owen makes his way to a rendezvous with the rich-kid clique. On Owen's heels is his Down-Syndrome-challenged brother James, who refuses to return home. Unable to convince his brother to leave, he grudgingly accepts his company. After making contact with the clique in the forest, who again treat Owen terribly, they leave him behind but not without a few choice words from the group bully, J.T. Doyle; who makes pointed comments about "trailer-trash." When J.T. returns, a violent exchange breaks out between the two teens. The outcome is deadly, for as J.T. trips and falls; his head strikes a rock, causing his instant death. Shocked and dismayed, Owen hides the body and coerces his brother into remaining silent about the incident.

The third person rounding out the narrative triumvirate is Diane Doyle (Elizabeth Banks), who reports her son J.T. as missing, which prompts a town-wide search. Compounding her grief is the Federal investigation into her husband Bill's (Josh Lucas) role in the disaster, for which he may or may not be culpable.

The characters each deal with concealed truths that torment them; plaguing their conscience and clouding their judgment.

Colangelo shows a deft command of the material. She never allows melodrama or sentimentality to seep into the story. She also demonstrates a skillful hand with the actors. Jacob Lofland's sensitive portrayal is one of the film's great strengths, as is Boyd Holbrook's; whose Amos Jenkins is an understated depiction of a man with complicated psychological and physical wounds. Elizabeth Banks is an actress who is seldom given the opportunity to play someone so multilayered. Her performances is no less compelling than her male counterparts.

A romance between Amos and Diane burgeons after the two meet at a prayer gathering. Their relationship offers a host of startling contradictions but it makes sense, given the diminutive size of the town.

It is also quite interesting that all three characters suffer the loss of someone close to them and how each contends with their bereavement gives the film its emotional foundation.

The coal mine is a nice metaphor for buried secrets and truth, which affect the characters in various ways. It is worth noting that most of the drama takes place indoors; in confined spaces maybe meant to mirror the claustrophobic nature of the mines.

Colangelo leaves us in a state of suspense as we wonder if the characters will divulge their respective secrets. Her solid, storyteller's instinct for maintaining that suspense kept me riveted throughout.

Little Accidents is a promising debut. Its story is unflinching in its willingness to face the grim truths that threaten a mining town's collapse. Colangelo's directorial and writing gifts are very conspicuous. I sincerely hope she finds a patron for her future projects. It would be a shame if someone with her talent had to scrape and scrimp to bring her stories to the screen. Let's hope she's spared that fate.