Review of Cloudburst (2011) by Lili C — 01 Oct 2012

"Cloudbust" is the most heartwarming movie I've seen in a long while. A tale of an old lesbian couple who are separated by court and family, the movie is a bit too chaotic for its own good, but a fair amount of outrageousness justifies a lot of small cracks its colorful presentation.

Brenda Fricker plays Dot, a warm and bubbly lady who has lost her sight and a lot of her mobility. Olympia Dukakis stars as Stella, Dot's tough and outspoken spouse who's determined to take care of the love of her life. The couple lives happily, engaging in witty banter and moments of looking at the clouds which Stella now has to describe to Dot. One night the ladies are spending quality time watching a porn movie, when a friendly tickling contest causes Dot to fall off their bed. Dot's niece storms to the rescue, determined to take her aunt to a home. Stella tries to fight this with her limbs and teeth, but Dot disappears into a car and is driven away.

So begins and adventure for Stella, who decides to rescue Dot and take her to Canada so that the couple can get officially married. Extravagant road movie fun meets gutsy dialog (Stella's character is perfectly written) and tender moments of drama, the end result being a somewhat erratic but ultimately lovable tale that isn't afraid to take risks and shatter taboos.