‘It’s not a pole, it’s a rod…it’s not like playing with your goddam phone…’ explains Vietnam vet Ike Hendrickson (Brian Cox) as he tutors us in the world of fly-fishing; Joshua Caldwell’s earnest, effective drama is keen to make the same kind of differentiation. As the title suggests, Mending The Line is a film about the pursuit of fishing, or specifically pursuing escaping fish, but it’s also a story of recovery that does well to dodge the expected clichés of PTSD cinema and make a few well-grounded points about how we build and rebuild ourselves.
‘More great literature has been written about fly fishing than any other sport,’ intones Cox, but that’s no immediate help to the younger Colter (Sinqua Walls), who has returned from Afghanistan with considerable mental and physical damage. Unable to go back to his military position, even if he was deemed fit for purpose, Colter suffers through group discussions that cause him anxiety and don’t help him deal with his own trauma. Meanwhile, aging fly-fisher Hendrickson needs a partner to help him continue his beloved pastime; under the watchful eye of a caring doctor (Patricia Heaton), the two men begin to bond…
Although Mending the Line begins with a horrific scene of combat, this is a film that’s unexpectedly gentle at heart, with most of the film concerning the blossoming relationship between two tough, damaged men. Cox is ideal casting for a substantial turn as the gruff vet, a man so set in his ways that, as one character observes, ‘he hasn’t listened to music since Creedence broke up in 72.’ Walls does well with an equally complex role, wrestling with his guilt over events which he truly had zero control over; ‘I wasn’t punished so I punished myself’ he admonishes himself unfairly.
Written by Stephen Camelio, Mending the Line also takes time to explore the Montana community that forms a calming background here; Wes Studi and Perry Matfield both excel as locals who are explored in far more depth than is customary. At over two hours long, Caldwell’s film is a meditative piece, jammed with awards-ready acting but also making a firm point; Hendrickson teaches Colter to throw their catch back into the river with the terse remark ‘I’ve done enough killing’. Without being exploitative of veterans issues, Mending the Line is a careful, thoughtful look at the effects of PTSD that also manages to make wider points about how we heal; it’s an accomplished, emotionally honest movie that deserves a wide audience. And for Cox, executive producing here, it’s another top drawer performance to sit alongside his steller work in films like Hidden Agenda (1990) and in L.I.E. (2001).
Mending The Line had its world premiere as the Opening Night Film the Woodstock Film Festival on Sept 29th 2022, and screens again tomorrow (Friday) at 1pm at the Rosendale Theatre. I’ll post fuller release informaton as and when it becomes available.
I think you should do a monthly post where you update us on release dates. You say you’ll post release dates a few times, but I’ve never seen any updates. No point in adding them to the original post, that time has gone. I want to see this movie.
Yup, I saw a US release date of Oct 22, and you’d expect interest in Cox would secure release over here. It’s got a long and deliberately languid tempo, worked for me. Plus veterans issues shouldn’t be a speciality thing. Everybody needs to heal.
Will figure out some way to meaningfully update these things, you are correct about my updating an original article and assuming that the reader checks back daily for months. This doesn’t work. Must do better. Sorry, not sorry.
No need for sorry, just sort it out.
I’m always interested in Brian Cox and especially Wes Studi, who has made a lot of films that don’t seem to have made it to the UK. Is there anything in the film which made you think of ‘Mortimer and Whitehouse’ going fishing? I can’t see a distributor as yet on IMDb. I suspect it might end up on a streamer?
I think this is getting a US release late October, but will post that info if I can get it confirmed. I’m certainly a fan of all the cast, particularly going back to the 90’s with Heston and thirtysomething. I think we should see this film in the UK, and as you say, the notion of fishing as therapy is nothing new. It’s certainly therapeutic to watch; I daresay you could cut 40 minutes off of this, but that extra time allows you to settle into the non urgent rhythms of the sport.
Fishing? I think I’ll have to toss this movie back into the cinema river.
I’ll toss you back in the river if you don’t watch it, Bunty. Each to their own.
Uh oh, we’re in Bunty Territory. I can hear the banjos already!
I’ll banjo you in a minute Bunty!
Such hostility, tsk, tsk, tsk.
You should take up fishing. I hear it’s very calming…
More literature has been written about fly fishing…
This sounds like a film I would like. I’m into stuff where damaged people find their own ways to heal.
Is Joshua Caldwell the new William Wyler?
Is the correct answer, And Brian Cox is the new Spencer Tracy. Fact!