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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 354788" data-attributes="member: 23">The Magic Of Belle Isle (2012) (AKA 'Once More') <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fa5.mzstatic.com%2Fus%2Fr30%2FVideo%2Fv4%2F92%2Fa0%2F7e%2F92a07e34-952a-a0bf-8bf9-e6f8740379e4%2FTheMagicOfBelleIsle_Poster.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=ddebb2ee92681685b90b32b49f0b38358aa2fce1256b61605fa28360afcfff03&ipo=images" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 561px" /> Take Johnny Depp's depressed, reclusive novelist with writer's block looking for his solitude in Secret Window and combine him with Jack Nicholson's grumpy novelist frustrated by the limitations his health condition causes him and bitter at the world. Throw in the novelist from Misery (also directed by this film's Rob Reiner) who has closed the book on his biggest-selling character to the disappointment of a fan of his work, and you have Monte Wildhorn, Morgan Freeman's character in this film. I had no idea what this film was to be about. I hadn't read any synopses or reviews. The UK title - Once More - could mean anything (I've only this morning discovered its original title and find myself wondering why it was changed from something specific to this film into something generic and pretty much meaningless). The only other information I had ahead of time was the image used for its placeholder on my streaming service: Morgan Freeman smiling in front of clouds. So the film could have been about absolutely anything. Indeed Morgan Freeman's smile was enough for me since I've never found him to be anything less than captivating. It is difficult to sum up this film, since it's one of those films that's very much about what's happening below the surface. It feels rather TV movie or soap-ish in the regard that it feels quite small and unhurried. This may sound like a criticism, but I mean it in the most complimentary way. There's a lot of everyday life and casual interactions and any hint of "event" begins with character and works outwards. How well it works is probably going to hinge on how endearing you find the characters or how much the film's voice resonates with you. For me, the film was entirely about the journey from isolation to connection and on that level it worked entirely well. In many ways it's an unconventional film which - most of the time-  doesn't feel as though it's trying to please a mass audience (the film feels weaker in those moments which feel more expected or conventional). I also liked the characters, even the kids (cutesy Hollywood kids usually nauseate me, but these all felt cast for their acting ability which is fortunate given how much screen-time they had). By the by, somewhere in the middle of the film I convinced myself that the lead actress was Kim Lankford and then I couldn't unsee it. By film's end I was even a little surprised to find it was not Kim but Virginia Madsen. And for those who don't care for the story, the scenery is beautiful (I looked it up and it was filmed in the Greenwood Lake area of Orange County) and I suspect it captures that sense of small towns and their communities very well. This morning I've read that the film is rated very poorly on a couple of those review/critique sites, and I'm glad I don't pay attention to such things or I would have missed out.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?