Review of Georgia (1995) by Blake P — 04 Nov 2015

With Georgia being commended for featuring a performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh said to be her all-time greatest, I couldn't turn away from acting of such acclaim.

As an independent film, Georgia has a limited scope. The film is mostly a slow-burning character study of protagonist Sadie Flood, a self-destructive sister of the titular successful musician. This means that the film is simple in its own ways and complicated in others. But the way I see it, much of the complicated aspects of the narrative prove to be left to the implications. The themes such as sibling rivalry and drug addiction are not given any specific narrative but rather are left to occur naturally on their own, and this works for better and for worse. For better in the sense that the natural development of the plot dynamics allows the experience to feel more realistic yet worse in the sense that there is really not much done with them that cannot be attributed simply to the cast. The film relies on the simplistic concept of Sadie Flood's own self-destructive lifestyle, and it isn't exactly predictable because her path is one that has not been explored in the same manner many times before which certainly pays credit to the originality of the film, but from a practical perspective the film is very much just a series of long conversations and music sequences which boast dramatic flair but have a slight tendency to drag on for a while. I'm not saying that Georgia is a bad film, it's just that the lack of dramatization in it is both a strength to the film's originality and a weakness to how much it genuinely affects the viewer, even though it does have some sequences which are really rich in dramatic atmosphere.

By today's standards, Georgia is very much a slow film. It clearly would have been more relevant during its original release at the time of the endeavour of Jennifer Jason Leigh's career and when the music depicted in the film was more culturally relevant, but now the material seems heavily dependent on its nostalgic value more than anything. I'll admit that the feature certainly had its quirks, but it is not precisely the most amusing film. There is constantly a nihilistic tone to the film which gradually intensifies more and more which shows that there is some kind of development going on, and the lack of conventional twists that commonly uplift a more familiar narrative certainly makes the experimental nature of the film more innovative. Unfortunately, it's just not as entertaining to look at in this day and age.

The lack of Hollywood conventions in the film also means that the simplistic film style does not work to dramatize things. Everything is shot mainly with still, prolonged footage which lacks dramatized editing or the ability to emphasize any real imagery. I value this in the sense that it makes the experience more realistic, but it also fails to support the brilliant performances of the cast by capturing the best assets of their efforts with close detail. It leaves them to fend for themselves in a film where the importance rests heavily on what the actors do with the characters. But with such a remarkable cast working the material the result is truly a powerful spectacle of acting.

To say that Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance in Georgia is her finest is truly a valid critical evaluation. Sadie Flood is a very complex character, and while the narrative may not always emphasize the extent of her complex mental depth, Jennifer Jason Leigh conveys unexpected extents of grunge spirit in the character. There is a juvenile nature about Sadie which really depicts her inability to grow up and out of the shadow of her older sister, consistently reminding us of her inferiority complex. This is depicted at the start of the film, but it progressively becomes more damaging as she is broken down over the course of the story. Sadie goes through many different physical changes in the film, wearing various facades, costumes and haircuts to project development in the role. Sometimes she appears to have passionate control over her angry spirit yet at other times she is so lost in it that it can be rather scary. Either way, she captures the part brilliantly with passion for the music which is most notable during the scene where the sings "Take Me Back" where all the finest aspects of her performance converge into a single moment of tenacious dramatic strength. Jennifer Jason Leigh is truly a remarkable foil in Georgia, and she succeeds in doing what the character wants in making the story all about her.

Mare Winningham is also wonderful. Adding to the complex characterization of Sadie Flood, Mare Winningham deservedly fits the titular role by sharing a thoroughly intelligent chemistry with Jennifer Jason Leigh. There is a real sense of complex sisterhood shared between them, a challenging sibling rivalry in which Mare Winningham stands up as the more sophisticated and adult of the two without deviating from her instinctively challenging nature as a sister. Mare Winningham takes a strong stance in the story and delivers remarkable spirit during the musical sequences of the film as her voice is so gentle that it is borderline angelic.

The presence of a young John C. Reilly is also great because his restrained spirit depicts him very much lost in himself well. Ted Levine is also good to see in a simpler dramatic role in contrast to his more notorious character-driven efforts, and he blends in with everyone easily.

So Georgia has a remarkable cast to boot led by Jennifer Jason Leigh in her most brutally confronting effort to date, but the reliance on characters makes the limited scope of the film more apparent to have not won the battle of age, leaving a stirring but slow and limited experience as a final product.