By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Having opened at the 2013 Palm Beach International Film Festival, Decoding Annie Parker will be opening nationally tomorrow. In the year since its first public exposure, the reputation of Decoding Annie Parker has grown, given the subject matter and a blossoming supporting cast of actors – Aaron Paul, Marley Shelton and Alice Eve.

Having witnessed her mother and sister fade away from cancer, Annie Parker (Samantha Morton) basically lives in the moment and tends to her family. While performing a routine breast examination, Annie discovers a lump on her breast. Annie laughs at her apparent death sentence.

In spite of radiation, chemotherapy and being told that her cancer is in remission, Annie confronts this devious disease. Enter Dr. Mary- Claire King (Helen Hunt), a research doctor who believes that there is a link between cancer and family genetics. Though it takes decades to meet, both Dr. King and Annie Parker develop a unique relationship via letter writing.

Based on a true story, Decoding Annie Parker is a textbook story about the medical profession battling a dreaded illness. Yet Samantha Morton’s performance raises the film above an episode of Grey’s Anatomy disease of the week plotting. Having met the real Annie Parker last year at PBIFF 2013, one sees that a positive attitude is powerful medicine.

For Joe, Nicholas Cage is getting his best performance reviews since World Trade Center. Cage is truly invested in this character, a supervisor who specializes in the killing of trees in the swamplands. Enter Gary (Tye Sheridan), a 15-year-old who seeks employment with Joe’s crew. Gary admits to suffering from domestic difficulties, Joe agrees to hire Gary’s father, Wade aka G-Dawg (Gary Poulter), figuring that hard work cures most problems.

Wade G-Dawg is pure white trash from the neighborhood of Bob Ewell from To Kill a Mockingbird and Jonas Wilkerson from Gone with the Wind. Joe is forced to fire the father, who takes it out on his son. Despite his own violent past, Joe becomes increasingly involved with Gary’s plight.

To add authenticity to his story, Director David Gordon Green hired Texas locals. Poulter was a homeless man who was given a job. As the title role, Cage deserves his kudos for playing an explosive character with restraint. Yet Joe will be haunted by Poulter’s realistic performance as “Daddy Dearest.” After production closed, Poulter returned to the streets and died before Joe was released.