SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US

"TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US"
(2003) (Guy Pearce, Helena Bonham Carter) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
None	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Minor	Mild	None	Mild

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Minor	Moderate	Moderate	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Drama: A man saves an amnesic woman who eerily seems like a grown-up version of his first love who disappeared decades ago.

PLOT:

Dr. Sam Franks (GUY PEARCE) is a psychiatrist who's just returned home to Genoa to bury his father. While going through his childhood home and looking over his former belongings, Sam remembers when he was just a boy (LINDLEY JOYNER) whose father, Dr. David Franks (PETER CURTIN), had little time for him. Accordingly, he met and befriended Silvy Lewis (BROOKE HARMAN), a girl his age who was into poetry and wore braces on her legs.

They spent a great deal of time together - with him even working for Silvy's dad -- Maurie (FRANK GALLACHER) - and their friendship teetered on romance. Then something horrific happened that forever changed how Sam viewed himself and life.

As those old emotions resurface, Sam ends up saving a woman he spotted on a train trestle moments before a train passed and sent her into the river below. She turns out to be Ruby (HELENA BONHAM CARTER), a woman he earlier met on another train, but she now suffers from amnesia and can't recall anything about herself or her life.

Oddly enough, however, she soon starts displaying behavior that reminds him of Silvy. As he ponders whether it's possibly her all of these years later, her ghost, or just a figment of his imagination, the terrible incident from the past that caused him to be the way he is today is finally revealed.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Unless they're fans of someone in the cast, it doesn't seem too likely.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For a scene of sexuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: GUY PEARCE plays an emotionally reserved psychiatrist whose memories of the past are dredged up by the mysterious arrival of Ruby with whom he ends up having sex.
HELENA BONHAM CARTER plays an amnesiac woman who bears a striking resemblance to Sam's long lost childhood friend. She has sex with him.
LINDLEY JOYNER plays Sam as a boy who finds himself smitten with Silvy but then covers up a horrific accident.
BROOKE HARMAN plays the girl with whom he's smitten. She briefly uses some profanity, wears leg braces and is rather intelligent.; HELENA BONHAM CARTER plays an amnesiac woman who bears a striking resemblance to Sam's long lost childhood friend. She has sex with him.
LINDLEY JOYNER plays Sam as a boy who finds himself smitten with Silvy but then covers up a horrific accident.
BROOKE HARMAN plays the girl with whom he's smitten. She briefly uses some profanity, wears leg braces and is rather intelligent.; LINDLEY JOYNER plays Sam as a boy who finds himself smitten with Silvy but then covers up a horrific accident.
BROOKE HARMAN plays the girl with whom he's smitten. She briefly uses some profanity, wears leg braces and is rather intelligent.; BROOKE HARMAN plays the girl with whom he's smitten. She briefly uses some profanity, wears leg braces and is rather intelligent.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R rated drama. A brief and rather tame sex scene occurs between two adult characters and includes very brief nudity (bare breast) and movement (and partial nudity afterwards). Profanity consists of 1 "s" word and there's a non-graphic calf delivery scene (we see the bloody calf, but not the actual delivery).

A girl presumably drowns off-screen and a boy frantically searches for her in the water. That scene and a handful of others might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, while a few bad attitudes are present. Some tense family material occurs regarding an adult dealing with the death of his father.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: None.

BLOOD/GORE: There's the sight of a large, dead bird, but other than some ants crawling on it, it's not gory.
Silvy's father employs Sam to help him around the barn and his first duty is to help deliver a calf. We see Maurie presumably sticking his hand and arm inside the mother cow (from the opposite angle and thus no shots of the insertion) and then see its water break. He then has Sam pull on a rope that then pulls out the calf (we don't see the actual removal, but do see the bloody calf - that's alive and fine - as well as some blood down the backside of the cow and on Maurie's hands and arms).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Silvy states that some older and apparently mentally unbalanced woman is a witch.
Young Sam doesn't tell the exact truth about what happened to Silvy (we later see that he hid her leg braces after an accident).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: The overall idea that Ruby might be Silvy's ghost or some other supernatural-based apparition might be unnerving to some viewers, but the suggestion is never take very far and certainly not to the extreme.
Although not played to its full, suspense potential, Sam spots Ruby standing atop a train trestle just as a train passes by. He then realizes that she's in the river below it and goes in to rescue her. He pulls her to the bank and then pushes on her chest/stomach to resuscitate her.
We see a brief and somewhat surreal shot of a woman sinking below the surface of some dark water.
We see a boy panicking when he realizes that his young companion has disappeared beneath the surface of a lake at night. He repeatedly dives down looking for her, but can't find her.

GUNS/WEAPONS: A statue is the town square holds a rifle (seen various times).

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Bullsh*t" and "Piss off."

JUMP SCENES: The sudden sound of a train might startle some viewers.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A mild amount of slightly ominous music plays in several scenes.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 1 "s" word and 1 use of "Christ" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: The camera, representing young Sam's view, pans up Silvy's body as she lies on a small dock at the river (wearing a midriff-revealing top).
We see young Sam in his boxers and tank-top as he gets into the river at night.
Sam and Ruby kiss and we then see a torso and up shot of him on top of her, kissing her and her neck. We then see her on top of him and then him on top of her. We then see a brief view of her bare breast while he's on top of her (from the waist down they're covered by a sheet, but we can see that he's between her legs and there's some brief movement). We then later see them sleeping face to face (partial view of her bare breast with her leg up on his body, but only seen from the waist up).
We see adult Sam in just his boxers as he goes into the river to swim. We then see him get out, with the boxers clinging to his body (from behind).

SMOKING: A miscellaneous man smokes in the past and present (just 2 times total).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Sam gets word that his elderly father is quite ill and is there with him when he dies. We then see a sparsely attended funeral and then Sam going through his now empty childhood home. Later, we see a flashback picture that shows a woman who's presumably Sam's mother, but we don't know where she is or what happened to her.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Guilt.
How past incidents can affect one's life years or decades later.
Covering up accidents.
Silvy wears leg braces.
Loss.
Young love.
Shutting out the world and most emotions from one's life.

VIOLENCE: A young girl presumably drowns, but we don't see the incident or her body.
Young Sam throws a rock at Silvy's father for not grieving like the boy thinks he should (he does not hit him).

Reviewed February 24, 2003 / Posted March 14, 2003

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