The Spitfire Grill

Starring: Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton, Kieran Mulroney, Gailard Sartain, John M. Jackson
Directed by: Lee David Zlotoff
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young woman (Alison Elliott) gets out of prison and begins working in a small town diner in Maine.

Review:

Tim: The Spitfire Grill is a perfectly fine, ordinary movie. It has a few nice strengths, a few big flaws, but overall, is mostly enjoyable. In the end, the cast helps push the movie into "good" territory. I liked the film, even though I never felt deeply invested in it.

The film feels like it has some positive qualities in the script, but director Lee David Zlotoff never quite fully leverages them. This was Zlotoff's feature film debut and he never (as of 2023) directed another film. That feels right- he seems like a better fit as a television director. He doesn't quite have the skill set to bring the best parts of his script to life. This ends up being a perfectly fine feature debut, but there wasn't quite enough here to propel his career forward. I liked the movie, but it's a bit too forgettable.

I thought the heart of the story was powerful. We meet this clever, resourceful girl who is getting out of prison. Already, the story is a bit unique. She ends up working in this small town diner, in a somewhat remote part of Maine. It's interesting to see her life there- she's been given another chance after prison and she tries to move on with her life. By some in the town, she's accepted and loved. By others, she's treated like an ex-con, a blight on the town and shown malice. I thought this aspect of the film felt true to real life. It's interesting, to see how different people react to her, and how she adjusts to life post-jail. I found this part of the movie to be the most compelling. Unfortunately, as the film progresses, we get all these side stories that aren't nearly compelling as the main one. The movie loses focus and gets bogged down with these. It hurts the film as it progresses. I think with fewer distractions and more time spend on our protagonist, the movie could have been much better. The heart of this story is a young woman trying to restart her life, and she gets lost in the shuffle.

The distractions that hurt this film involve the other people in this small town. Much of the focus of the film involves the owner of the Spitfire Grill advertising a national competition- for $100 and a letter, you can enter a drawing to "win" her grill. As the movie progresses, this becomes more and more the focus of the story. And, it feels like a mistake. I'd much rather have spent more time with Percy Talbot (the main character) than get caught up in this farfetched plot. It does create momentum in the story and it has some touching moments- a few scenes where people read letters from participants definitely tug at the heartstrings. However, the whole thing seems hard to believe. Hundreds and hundreds of people (or thousands) of people send in a not insignificant sum of money to try and win an old Maine grill? Not saying it couldn't happen, but it seems unlikely as the movie explains it. Even worse than this part of the plot is the ridiculous story of the man living in the woods. My fingers don't even want to type this. I suppose there's a decent idea buried here, but it comes across so poorly on screen. It involves the diner's owner, but Percy makes friends (kind of) with a strange man living in the woods. This subplot eventually weaves into the film's climax, but it felt distracting and a bit absurd. I never fully bought into this aspect of the story. It might give the film a nice mysterious boost early on, but it eventually bogs down the story completely. It felt unnecessary and a further distraction of the main plot. The story seems to find this mysterious man far more interesting than the main character. There's another subplot about a man who becomes fixated on Percy, believing she's bad news. It's too much and the film loses focus. The summary here is that Zlotoff's script has some great ideas, but is too scattered for its own good.

The cast definitely helps save the movie, though. Without such strong actors, I likely would have disliked this movie. They pull us in, establish emotional connections, and allow us to quickly forgive some of the film's many flaws. This starts with Alison Elliott. I was a bit surprised to see her in the lead role. Elliott is really good, lending a certain amount of authenticity to the role. There's a few moments where her talent was stretched too thin for her performance to be believable, but I mostly thought she handled the role well. I'm a little surprised her career didn't seem to pick up after this role. I'd never heard of her. Still, she's mostly good.

Ellen Burstyn gives her typically strong performance. She's a truly underrated actress and I enjoyed that she had a meaty, compelling role here that allowed her to showcase her talent. It's a supporting role, but Burstyn elevates the material. Marcia Gay Harden was exceptionally good, too. Harden can do just about anything and she was relatable and likable here. I felt a strong emotional connection to her character. Her performance is subtle, but powerful. I will say that I really appreciated this film had three strong performances from women in the forefront- Elliott, Burstyn, and Harden. They all work well together and most of the film's best scenes involve these three women working together. Will Patton adds in a nice supporting performance, too. I really disliked his character, which is a testament to his acting. I didn't quite care for how the script handled the end of his story, but I have no fault with Patton's performance.

I have to say, The Spitfire Grill is a good, but unremarkable movie. I'm quite surprised that it won the Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award. Why? When it was released theatrically, critics were much harsher on it (appropriately so). It's a good movie, but never more than that. I would say the movie is worth our time. We don't get enough of these women-led movies. I wish Zlotoff had directed a better movie, but it's definitely good and worthwhile.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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