The Lost Husband

Libby has lost her husband and lives with her two children at her mother's; the mother criticises constantly and the situation cannot go on. A letter comes from her aunt: she runs a goat farm in Texas and needs help. Libby takes the children and goes. The work is heavy: milking, cheese, looking after the animals and getting up at four. James, who runs the farm, says little and takes an interest in nobody. There is something in the family that has not been spoken of for years and Libby learns it slowly. Vicky Wight directs. Leslie Bibb plays Libby and Josh Duhamel plays James. The source is Katherine Center's novel. The form is familiar: a character arriving from the city, rural life, new work and a slowly built relationship. Its most concrete side is the farm work; the care of the goats and the making of cheese are shown in detail. The real matter it works at is grief; the film gives it not as an obstacle but as a weight carried. The relationship with the children is the second strand and those sections are used for the emotional peaks. Its limit is predictability; every stage is known in advance and the narrative springs no surprise. It is a small production and had limited release. The Texas countryside is shot in detail and the setting carries the visual side of the film. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet relationship drama and narratives set in the country. Who it is not for: the plot is familiar, the pace slow, and the characters shallow.