CANVAS is what mentally ill wife and mother Mary Marino (Marcia Gay Harden) turns to, to forget her troubles and to shield herself from the voices she hears.  The dealing with mental illness is the subject of this moving portrait of troubled family life.

CANVAS opens with Mary painting, after taking a few lessons.  Encouraged by her loving husband, John (Joe Pantoliano) and son, Chris (Devon Gearhart), she survives but still succumbs to her illness.  The script, also penned by director Greco tells the story primarily from the boy’s viewpoint, which takes the viewer to his life in school, daily chores and encounters that include a fleeting childhood romance and school bullying.

The film contains one scary but effective scene when Chris wakes up in cold sweat one night – all worried that he might have inherited his mother’s mental illness.  But Greco’s film assumes too much, that John is over patient and has the finances to complete building his project despite losing his job.  The tacked on happy ending is also a bit much despite all the sufferings Greco puts the family through.  At least Greco demonstrates the feasibility of building a boat from scratch in the backyard, as compared to the absurdity if building of a rocket in THE ASTRONAUT FARMER.

On wonders at the reason CANVAS took so long to get released into theatres.  One would probably be that it is a family film dealing with a difficult subject of mental illness – something parents would unlikely bring their kids to see.  But despite its disturbing subject, CANVAS is basically well intentioned and good hearted, sometimes too much for its won good.  Not that bad a movie, CANVAS benefits from the best performance coming not from Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden but from the boy (now 13), Devon Gearhart (also in CHANGELING and FUNNY GAMES).  Gearhart is going places.

The film is based on writer/director Greco’s personal experiences of coping with a mother mentally ill.  This film comes from his heart.