The Magic of Belle Isle
Morgan Freeman headlines this uplifting if predictable gentle comedy
by Al Hoff
Rob Reiner's gentle comedy is very familiar fare — lonely and dinged-up people tossed together for a summer at a resort lake re-discover their spark for life. As such, it turns out to be a good summer for a bitter, wheelchair-bound writer (Morgan Freeman) and his assorted neighbors, including a single mom (Virgina Madsen). If you're a fan of these sorts of predictable, sentimental, sweet-natured films, then you should enjoy this surprisingly low-key entry into the canon. Nothing very dramatic happens, just some potlucks, trips to the general store, dog-walking and ruminating about the creative process of writing. But to be fair, that's often all it takes to build human relationships.
