EIFF 2013: This Is Martin Bonner Review

Director: Chad Hartigan.

Starring: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet.

Running Time: 83 minutes.

Synopsis: Martin Bonner (Paul Eenhoorn) has just moved to Nevada, leaving his adult children behind. Working to help prisoners transition into the everyday, he finds himself increasingly caught up in the life of the recently released Travis Holloway (Richmond Arquette).

Winner of Sundance 2013’s Best Of Next Audience Award, it’s clear to see why Chad Hartigan’s second feature film is such a hit. Introduced to the film’s kindhearted, compassionate namesake, we witness Martin Bonner going about his daily tasks from eating breakfast to getting his eyes tested. A local hero of sorts, Martin does everything from refereeing soccer matches to helping within his church. But Martin never flaunts this status, and we are left wondering how satisfied he is with his own situation.

Relocating from Maryland to Reno, the Australian native spends his days offering prison inmates a new lease of life if they believe they can accept Jesus into their lives on release. Martin’s prison programme may be incredibly beneficial, but it is not something everyone is willing to accept, with the opening scene presenting a prisoner smarting from previous broken promises. Spending his evenings in a modest apartment, unsuccessful calls to his elusive son hint that it is not just the inmates that sometimes resent his help.

Hartigan’s film may be called THIS IS MARTIN BONNER, but it spends a great deal of its running time focusing on recently released Travis Holloway. An incredibly honest performance, Arquette’s tender, hurting ex-con is a delight to watch as he attempts reintegration into society. Martin’s prison programme sees Travis sent to live with the “very Christian” Helms family, rewarding us with a brilliant dinner table scene that sums up the awkward host family situation without expanded dialogue.

Where the majority of the film plays remarkably true to life, certain elements unfortunately snap it out of its natural depiction. Travis’ first time at church brings reluctance and nerves, but the choice of slow motion to relay how he has been affected is an unnecessary technique that rears its head more than once. Later developments involving a member of Travis’ family verge on soap opera, and Martin’s ability to arrive in the nick of time to avert a difficult situation sits a little too neatly.

Gripping, but always understated, THIS IS MARTIN BONNER is a sweet, very well acted piece about acceptance in the community and beyond. Full of wonderful scenes – mention must be made of Martin’s speed dating escapades – Hartigan’s film warms the heart, but doesn’t offer anything out of the ordinary.