It’s as Real as it Gets with ‘Forbearance’ Dealing with Terminal Cancer (Movie Review)
Forbearance
Rating: 8/10
Director: Lana Read
Writer: Cedric Gegel
Style: Family Drama
Time: 108 minutes
Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_it6GkVFKxY
Website: www.facebook.com/forbearancemovie
Review by Mike Szymanski
Cedric Gegel is an all-around Hollywood hyphenate, as a director-screenwriter-actor and more. He has had some good successes before he also became a cancer survivor as one of his hyphenates.
He bravely wrote about a terminal diagnosis of cancer for this movie “Forbearance.” And, he decided to take one of the lead roles, playing the estranged son of man dying of cancer.
In real life, Cedric fought a rare type of blood vessel cancer and he speaks publicly about mental heath and his faith at student functions and acting workshops. He was in his sophomore year of college when he noticed a tumor in his elbow and went through many surgeries and radiation treatments. As of 2019, he is in remission.
In the film, Cedric plays the son of the character of Josh (played amazingly by Travis Hancock). Josh is coughing a lot even before his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer, and is given three months to live. And he doesn’t want his son to know.
Watching Cedric who battled with his own real-life cancer scare, take this role is as real as it can get as he plays with raw emotion dealing with a dad who doesn’t want to help himself and is bound to die.
It is as if we are peeking into the behind-the-scenes of a family drama, good and bad, poignant and painful. The emotions on all the actors are real, deep and powerful.
Josh’s wife Callie, is remarkably performed by Juli Tapken, who is both sympathetic and mean, harsh and vulnerable, angry and tender. She is one of those actresses who can play a character that you both love and hate at the same time, who will make you laugh and smile at the same time. She is great in this role.
Before the diagnosis that changes all their lives, Callie is preparing to serve Josh divorce papers through a hard-ass female attorney who seems to want to get back at Josh. It’s clear that the couple have had a long period of troubles. Josh is estranged from their only son, and they both admit not trusting each other.
Their cute son Jonah, played by Cedric, doesn’t understand why his father isn’t fighting for his life, and although they try to reconcile before his death, it seems unlikely.
Jonah gets kicked out of the house after a fight with his dad, but after a particularly bad bout of coughing, Jonah ends up helping him get to the hospital.
Josh makes an attempt to tell his best macho friend Bo (played by Paul Logan) that he is in fact dying. Both seem to dance around the reality of it, but it ends up being a rather emotional moment.
The recognizable actor playing the doctor is Vernon Wells who starred in “Mad Ma 2: The Road Warrior,” “Commando” and “Power Rangers.”
Maybe it takes to long for the film to end, but you want to know what happens to all the characters, so it’s worth the wait.
The director, Lana Read, recalls, “The actors gave their all and left a piece of their heart imprinted on this film for the whole world to see.”
One of the highlights is a personal encounter with Lacy the Bartender and Josh. Lacy is played by Lauren E. Woodiwiss when she is asking Josh some tough and uncomfortable questions. It turns out that Lacy is a reformed pastor and pours them both milk and says, “it’s good for the bones.” She challenges Josh with “Why did you give up? Don’t run” to which Josh replies, “I couldn’t run if I wanted to, not with these lungs.”
The music is simple and beautiful composed by Giovanni Rotondo. It’s classical and subtle and plays nicely with the family drama.
The cinematography with the breathtaking scenes of farmland, sunsets and dark places is from Tyler Sanso. Some memorable shots include when Josh videotapes his last statements to his family and it’s framed by the rungs of a ladder. Every shot seems very carefully and deliberately thought out.
“Forbearance” can be found on VOD Platforms beginning August 30, 2022.
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