‘Hollars’ opens to positive reviews
Published 10:16 am Thursday, January 28, 2016
The John Krasinski movie that was partially filmed in Brookhaven opened this week to positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
The movie will be released in theaters Friday.
The actors include Krasinski, who is also the director of the movie, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Margo Martindale and Randall Park.
“Krasinski, last seen at the Sundance Film Festival with his directorial debut ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men’ (2009), takes a gentle approach to the dysfunctional Hollar clan, leavening the heart-tugging drama with inspired character-driven comedy,” Sundance said in a review. “The large ensemble cast (including Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, Josh Groban, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Mary Kay Place) gives the relationships a lived-in feeling, while Krasinski offers a warm, funny, warts-and-all look at the importance of family.”
“You ever see one of those movies that you know is conventional, understand is nothing you haven’t seen before, but like it anyway?” the movie website Collider wrote in a review. “That’s ‘The Hollars,’ which marks John Krasinski’s second directorial effort after 2009’s ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men’ and is a prime example of a film that overcomes a fairly rote script thanks to an incredibly charming cast. Krasinski is so charming in the lead role of John that it’s easy to care about this guy, and as a filmmaker he’s put together a tremendous cast anchored by Martindale and Kendrick.”
“This one is straight out of the old-school Sundance manual,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “Still, there’s enough warmth, humor and heart in the very slick package, not to mention a gaggle of accomplished and well-cast actors, all of which should ensure decent VOD traction.”
Portions of the movie were filmed at King’s Daughters Medical Center.
“John really fell in love with this hospital,” production crew location manager Brian Hillburn said. “He didn’t want something gray and sterile looking.”
Krasinski was looking for a small-town feel on screen, film representatives said.
Hillburn said Krasinski’s enthusiasm over KDMC, combined with the hospital’s cooperation with the filming crew, was a “marriage made in heaven.”
Along with KDMC, scenes were also shot at Janie’s Pastry in downtown Brookhaven.
It was unclear when, or if, the movie would show in Brookhaven.