Rose's

The Rose in Frank Patterson's uneven comedy is a shy but likable middle-aged woman (Leslie France) with two monstrous thorns in her side: she has just killed her husband, and the bank is about to seize her flower shop -- where his corpse is hidden. Set in the South, the film gets its most inspired performance from Wayne Dehard as Willyum, an aging black murderer who befriends Rose soon after he's let out of jail. Rose helps Willyum reconcile with his wife, and (in a painful black-and-white flashback sequence) she divulges her secret to him. Together they scheme to save the store and dispose of the corpse, garnering laughs from some gleefully crude Southern stereotyping along the way. Yet it's scarcely possible to reconcile Rose's dark psychosis (her oppressive husband drove her to murder) with the lighter, Weekend at Bernie's moments. Willyum's cockeyed smile and happy-go-lucky determination carry the film a long way, but this rose ultimately wilts. Screens at the Copley Place Sunday, September 19 at 7:45 and 10:10 p.m.

-- Sean Richardson

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Film Festival Feature Films

| Keepers of the Frame | The Runner | The Carriers Are Waiting | Tumbleweeds | Deterrance | The War Zone | Happy, Texas | Joe the King | The Legend of 1900 | Best Laid Plans | Original Diner Guys | The Glass Jar | Rose's | Wirey Spindell | Starry Night | Bellyfruit |

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More Boston Film Festival information, film descriptions, and show times

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