This scene of a Passover meal from a hospital bed is the strangest of uplifting film moments.
Richard Jenkins stars as an ailing patriarch inLullaby, a man about to stop treatment for terminal cancer. One of his final meals is with his wife (Anne Archer), son (Garrett Hedlund) and daughter (Jessica Brown Findlay).
It’s also one of the first family moments the group has shared in years, with a visiting police officer joining in the meal.
“It’s a beautiful moment for them,” says Lullaby director/writer Andrew Levitas. “It’s making good memories up until the end. It’s not dark. It’s a family sitting around having one of the nicer meals they have ever had together. Even considering the circumstances.
“It’s the point of all of this,” Levitas adds, explaining a driving Lullaby theme. “There are so many dark and scary things in this world. But if you can connect with family and find love, even bad things don’t feel so bad.”
There is plenty of bad in this ultimately positive tale of a financially rich but broken family whose members have been torn apart by illness for years. It opens June 13.
The film follows successful business leader Robert (Jenkins), who decides to take himself off life support after a decade of illness. But it’s mostly seen through the eyes of his troubled son, Jonathan (Tron: Legacy’s Hedlund).
“This is a hero’s journey for Jonathan, which is central to the story,” Levitas says. “We’re basically watching someone who has been lost for years find himself.”
Levitas says viewers will see a very different side of Hedlund, who was last seen in a memorable cameo for Inside Llewyn Davis. In Lullaby, he lashes out onstage, performing in a rock band and in his personal life.
Meanwhile, Jenkins instantly makes himself sympathetic while trying to pull his family together in the final hours of his life. “Richard is just the kind of father so many people wish they could have,” Levitas says. “He shows it’s never too late to reclaim your life.”
The cast is filled with great actors pulled together by Levitas, including Archer andDownton Abbey‘s Findlay. Terrence Howard stars as a sympathetic hospital doctor, and Jennifer Hudson is a scene-stealing nurse.
Meanwhile, Amy Adams managed to make time in her schedule to play Jonathan’s ex-girlfriend.
“People were passionate about this story and believed in what we were saying,” Levitas says. “Amy showed up and did her thing.”
Jenkins’ character might not find his miracle cure. But once again, the strangely uplifting mode kicks in for the on-screen family man.
“At the end of his life, Richard is surrounded by people he loves, and he’s able to smile, knowing he has lived a great life,” Levitas says. “He knows he has had the life he wanted. That’s how he finishes it. We should all be so lucky.”
