30 Second Bottom Line: A successful artist, who lives in NYC, goes home to Montana after his grandfather has a stroke. While caring for his grandfather, he is reunited with a teenage lover that he has never gotten over. He also meets a new man, where love becomes a surprise. How and why he makes the choices before him at this time will determine just how happy he can be for the rest of his life.
Story Line: Henry Hart (Arye Gross) is a thriving painter in NYC, who is scheduled to open a major show, when he learns that his grandfather, Sam (George Coe), has had a stroke in his small home town of Big Eden, Montana. Henry decides to forego the opening so he can care for his grandfather. Mary Margaret (Veanne Cox) is his supportive and very pregnant agent, who thinks he will hurt his career if he is not at the opening and she encourages him not to go to Montana.
Henry meets his old school teacher Grace Cornwell (Louise Fletcher) at the hospital, and she suggests that when Sam leaves the hospital and goes home, that they make arrangements for cooked food to be brought in. They stop by Dexter's General Store, where they run into Jim Soams (O'Neal Compton), in his usual spot with a group of guys on the store porch, where they sit all day and shoot the breeze about much of nothing. He goes inside and asks store owner Pike Dexter (Eric Schweig) for his idea on the subject. Pike thinks that Widow Thayer (Nan Martin) might do the cooking and he would take care of the delivery.
Widow Thayer is a busy body who loves to cook, but has an inclination to prepare greasy fried food, which is the last thing that Sam needs. In addition to food, she brings over all the eligible women in town to meet Henry, and when she realizes that her suspicions of years ago are true, that he is probably gay, the house is soon full of men, imported from near and far.
In the meantime, Pike feels an attraction to Henry, which he realizes when he starts to cook healthy gourmet meals that he lets Henry and Sam think that Widow Thayer has prepared.
We sense that Henry and Pike are mutually attracted to one another. But Pike is very shy and Henry must decide if he will consummate his relationship with Dean Stewart (Tim DeKay), who he's loved since high school. Dean is divorced from his wife and has two young children that he is caring for. He has returned to Big Eden to raise them. Will Henry and Dean complete their unfinished relationship of 18 years ago, or will Anna, who is attracted to Dean, help him decide where his love truly belongs?
Tell Me More About It: Big Eden is an adult fable which shows the best of the human spirit. A number of stereotypes are subtly challenged, which makes me look at some things in fresh way. We tend to think that nosy busy bodies who are always in your business are trying to run your life, or just spread gossip, rather than just being do-gooders who really want to help. When we see a group of men sitting on the front porch of a small town general store, doing much of nothing all day, especially if they live in a northwestern state, we think that these guys will soon be doing some training at a militia camp.
The strength in this film is the feeling of community that it generates from a disparate group of people. While the overall story would clearly never happen, individual scenarios can and have. When Sam is released from the hospital and is being moved from the car into the house, I remember, in vivid detail, doing that same thing for my father almost 20 years ago. It was emotional, difficult and unforgettable. Someone who has been your tower of strength may remain strong in spirit, but you know that the active person you've known all you life will never be the same again. You may say you will never do certain things, but the real meaning of never hits home when a part of your life has forever changed. Situations like this can be more difficult than the death of the person, because you are probably not sure of how you are going to manage the situation before you.
There is such a big heart in this movie that it challenges you to open your mind and try to extend the kindness to others that you think you deserve from them. Recent "coming home" films such as Spring Forward and A Piece of Eden place a focus on the meaning of "extended family." Big Eden lays it all on the line, as you will see in the final scene of the film.
Henry is trying to decide if he should tell his grandfather he is gay; and if he should remain in Big Eden or go back to NYC. Grace gives him some sound advice, "When you are lost in the woods, the best thing to do is stand still; rather than you finding them, they will find you."
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