The Magic of Belle Isle
Tags: sentimental

Plot synopsis:
Monte (Morgan Freeman) has had a successful career writing Western novels, but he has grown disenchanted and drunk in his later years since his wife died. He comes to the small resort town of Belle Isle for the summer to dogsit at a cottage and be left alone.He has an attractive next-door neighbor named Charlotte, mother to three daughters ranging from 6 to 15; they have relocated there from Manhattan while she is going through a divorce from the girls' father. The middle child, Finn, is building a wooden raft to sail out to a small island in the nearby harbor.Though confined to a wheelchair, Monte manages to get to town by bus to buy bourbon. He is brusque but not unfriendly to the locals, including a man who invites him to the memorial for a neighbor who has suddenly died.Monte meets Finn at the memorial and she learns a little about his books, which feature a recurring cowboy hero named Jubal. Monte is asked to read a statement about the deceased man and reluctantly agrees. On the way home, he speaks to a mentally handicapped young man named Carl, whose mother has asked him to help her son socialize. Monte asks Carl to be his sidekick.Finn asks Monte to teach her how to write stories. Monte confesses that he is not really unable to walk, rather, he is faking his condition to sue an insurance company. Finn is enraptured by his secret, until he tells her that he made up the story, which is how imagination works.Charlotte invites Monte to dinner, where the two adults are mildly flirtatious, especially after she plays the piano. Charlotte asks him why he stopped writing, and through an allegory about Jubal, Monte explains that writing about Jubal had allowed him to do what he could not do in real life, yet he is not that man anymore.Finn wants more lessons in imagination and storytelling, so Monte keeps asking her to look at places to describe what she does not see. At first the girl does not understand this and becomes frustrated, but she slowly begins to fill in details that are not evident in what she does see. One day, she makes up a story based on an experience she had with Carl, and Monte assures her that now she is learning to write.Finn's younger sister Flora has a big birthday party, and despite her hopes, their father does not come to visit as he promised. Monte tries to cheer her up with a story he has written about an elephant and a family of mice. Charlotte reads the story to Flora that night, and realizes it is an allegory about Monte and her family. She thinks aloud that Monte likes her.Finn finishes her raft and rows out to the island with Carl and her big sister, where she explores some trails and finds an old lunchbox hidden under a tree, which they soon learn contains writings from Charlotte when she was about 12.Finn learns that Monte has been writing stories for Flora and becomes quite upset with him, wanting to know why he will not continue writing about Jubal. Monte goes off to write, but composes another story that intimates he is falling in love with Charlotte.Monte's editor comes to visit after trying to contact him for many weeks, and is surprised to find that Monte is sober. As it turns out, a famous Hollywood actor shows up as well, wanting to buy the rights to Jubal's stories so he can star as the character. Monte replies that the character is not for sale, and responds to his editor's disappointment by saying that his life is too good right now to complicate it with such matters.Monte dreams of sitting by the water with Charlotte, drinking wine in the moonlight, poetically pitching woo to her. He stands and dances with her, and they kiss.The next day, Charlotte asks Monte to look after the girls for the day. Finn is still mad at him, so he tells her the story of his younger days on the minor league baseball circuit. On the day he was called up to the majors, he was hit by a drunk driver in a car accident, which is how he became paralyzed. His wife stayed with him, and he created Jubal to fulfill the life he could not live. He says that although his wife passed away six years ago, Finn has restored his legs, allowing him to dance again in his mind.Charlotte returns late that evening after the girls have gone to bed and shares a quiet moment with Monte. She admits she has become greatly fond of his stories, and now that Monte plans to leave after the summer, she wishes they had danced in the moonlight. The couple share a pause signifying the recognition of their suppressed affection for each other, and then just as she is leaving, Charlotte gives Monte a long sweet kiss.With the summer ending and the town closing up for the season, Monte decides to quit drinking and gives Carl his cowboy hat, encouraging him to be himself and not a sidekick.Finn, who had been reading one of Monte's books with the last page missing, is thrilled when he gives her a retyped revision of the last page. He returns the money she gave him for the writing lessons at the beginning of summer, because she has been the one teaching him.The girls and Charlotte say tender goodbyes to Monte, and Flora gives him a painting of an elephant as he leaves.That fall, the girls have acclimated to their new schools, and Charlotte has planted pumpkins in their garden. She gets a message from Monte telling her that he relented and sold the rights to Jubal, then used the money to buy a nice place to write.Charlotte then realizes that the nice place Monte bought is the cottage he had lived in over the summer. She and her daughters run over to see him, with the utmost jubilation.

Review: The Magic of Bell Island is a fantastic feel good movie especially for seniors.Four of us attended and left in a great mood.
The acting was brilliant, especially the children.The film had many themes: Reality vs Imagination, Alcholism, Death of a spouse, Divorce, Bringing up children, Dog sitting, Baseball players problems, living with handicaps,and more.I recommend this film for seniors, married couples, and families with children.I wonder if the author went on to write for children, another positive talent that he didn't realize he had..
All that said this is a great movie still and Morgan Freeman is about the only actor who can take a very ornery character and make you like him even at his worst.
Wheelchair bound curmudgeon and heavy drinker Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman), a writer of western stories house-sits for a friend in Belle Isle and softens considerably when he befriends single mother Charlotte O'Neil (Virginia Madsen) and her three children.I don't remember liking a movie as much as this one since THE ASTRONAUT FARMER.
For starters we see curmudgeon Monte be bam-boozled into reading an obituary for someone he "didn't know;" getting a side-kick in Carl (Ash Christian) a somewhat special needs person; giving aspirin to Ringo, the dog (that he renames Spot) with stiff hind quarters; and helping Finnegan learn to write stories.
as always has the right line to say at each moment.If you are in the mood for a family gathering type movie with a happy ending, this is a one to watch.The movie is inspirational and although the love innuendo between the two main characters can be thought by some to be distasteful, the real age of Monty is never revealed in the film so assumptions should not be made based on Morgan Freeman's real age..
I started watching this film without to many expectations even for a family drama, but as the story stars to develop you can tell this is going somewhere special and is definitely worthy of your time.
Without getting into to many details I can tell you Morgan Freeman is amazing as always, he delivers a beautiful performance and the rest of the cast is good as well.
I loved the humour in this movie because who doesn't like a good laugh and the jokes in this film will make anybody laugh.
So I really would recommend this to everyone as it is good family entertainment which you don't get to often, so forget the rubbish you're going to watch tonight and see The Magic of Belle Isle.http://theojreviews.blogspot.co.uk/.
Reiner scores well touching all aspects of the good side of humans.He also gives a complete picture of life seen through the simplistic eyes of children while allowing the complex world of adults be part of the story without taking any of the magic from childhood.
The cast is wonderful and I loved the strength, power, and insecurity of Morgan Freeman.One again admires Reiner's ability to show complex stories through the strength of his actors rather than depending on CG and other cheap slight-of-hand fakery..
If it's Sunday afternoon and you're kind of bored, if you're not in the mood for anything in particular, press play on "The Magic of Bell Isle".These movie will not disappoint you, it will not leave a bad taste but rather it will leave you smiling and feeling good.The story is very original and well written.
You will find some great quotes in this film and I guarantee you'll be smiling at the end.It's a very light comedy with just a pinch of drama, and the reason is such a good film is, of course, Morgan Freeman.I myself enjoyed the movie and recommend it for a rainy afternoon..
The Magic of Belle Isle is one of those supposedly inspirational movies where a lonely character who has been embittered by life's misfortunes gets his lost hopes back through an accidental encounter that changes his life.
The fact that the aged writer is Morgan Freeman (aged 75) and the mom is Virginia Madsen (aged 50) makes the relationship odd if not creepy, but teary-eyed audiences have seen and forgiven far worse the that.The movie, to be fair, is not too bad.
When Morgan Freeman plays a man with a weakness for alcohol, he still manages to appear so wise and commandeering of the role that you can't help but to admire him anyway.As any other review will tell you, the story is very predictable although I personally feel that it's not a story about the ending and resolution, but one whose importance stems from the very journey itself.
When I saw the single mother and her children, I began wondering what sort of "chick flick" I'd gotten myself into, but Rob Reiner did it right (although he only seemed to have time for the bigger picture and had no choice but to neglect some smaller elements).I only had two major complaints with this movie and neither contain spoilers, so feel free to read on.First, the product placement was a bit on the absurd side.
It is almost as if the movie went from start to finish with no in-between, since Freeman was already charming as could be, despite being a cranky old sod.But then again, this is Rob Reiner, and the goal is to get a wonderful story told as smoothly as possible, even if it means putting away some of the smaller details.
I cannot believe Virginia Madsen and Morgan Freeman agreed to be associated with this film.
The Magic of Belle Isle (2012) ** (out of 4) Rob Reiner's latest film thankfully has a couple great performances or else we'd be looking at one of the worst movies of the year.
Morgan Freeman plays Monte Wildhorn, a writer who has lost pretty much all of his touch, desire to live and has become a cranky alcoholic.
I don't mind movies trying to make you cry or feel warm but this thing here goes so far overboard that it really did seem like an eight-year-old girl wrote it.
I had not heard of this movie before but knowing that Morgan Freeman was the star actor and Rob Reiner was the star director I had basic expectations that it would at least be a "good, solid" movie.
It was a feel good story that could have been a really good movie but had a bad start.Firstly the script was so full of fluffy, wordy dialogue I found myself thinking the writer likes to "hear himself write" especially the first two thirds or more of the film.
It seemed like a middle school play where the actors were enunciating and "acting" some bad lines.My apologies to this wonderful director of other Oscar nominated movies, but I wondered at times if Mr. Reiner was "phoning it in" on this one.It was not until the lead character Monte rediscovered himself, his imagination and talent for writing and the joy of living through his relationship with this family that the movie started to feel genuine.I am not a writer, and definitely not a critic but I felt compelled to share my opinion.
While the story idea is sweet, the casting leaves me a bit perplexed.The children are wonderfully cast and fabulous in their given roles, as is Virginia Madsen as their mother.Yes, Morgan Freeman is a genius actor and plays the part well, but the romantic undertone is a little creepy.
There's an awkwardness among them and its like Madsen is afraid to react with such an actor and Freeman on the other hand is just being bored.My 5 star is only for the kids in this movie but that's overall.
First of all, it was a strange thing that at the beginning of this movie the Morgan Freeman character was supposed to come across as a grumpy old man, old Clint Eastwood character-style, so to speak but at the same time he also came across as an humorous and soft guy.
It was as if the film-makers themselves didn't really knew what to do with the character or were too afraid the viewers would distance themselves from the character and this movie if its main character was being purely a grumpy old man, in the first part of it.But also the dynamics between all of the different characters doesn't quite work out well or convincing enough.
Perhaps they though they would get some cheap laughs and drama out of it but I have some news for them; it just doesn't work out very well.Also, the Morgan Freeman character was supposed to be a mentor to one of the young girls and I thought at one point that the movie would entirely become just about that.
However, by the end of the movie it doesn't at all feels like he finished teaching the girl everything she needed and wanted to know about writing.
The kid actors were good, though the writing for them was still definitely lacking.It's hard to care about anything that happens in this movie, since the characters just aren't being handled good and interesting enough and they aren't going through some interesting enough developments and transitions.
It's never a punishment to watch Morgan Freeman acting in a movie, even when the movie and his character aren't being all that great or interesting.Virginia Madsen also did a great job, as did all of kid actors, like I mentioned earlier on already.Just not the best of most effective genre movie out there.
As it turns out Fred isn't in this all that much, but as always, he's quirky and good, however, the off beat casting of Morgan Freeman as a disillusioned author of westerns who's taken to drink, and the gorgeous much under rated Virginia Madsen as his next door neighbour works a treat in this delightful, feel good little movie!
Now and again a little gem like this comes along just to remind us of better cinematic days gone by, if you haven't got a big smile on your face, and a warm feeling in your heart at the end of this movie, I'm afraid there's no hope for you!.
Review: How can anyone say anything bad about a heart warming movie with Morgan Freeman playing the lead?
No one can play roles like these, as well as Morgan, which is why people always have him on the top of there list when it comes to movies in this category.
Anyway, it's not the type of movie that will blow you away or watch time and time again, but if your in the right mood, you can't help but feel touched by this touching drama.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $102,000 (Terrible)I recommend this movie to people who are into there witty dramas about a grumpy old man becoming friends with a fatherless family.
Not even the great Morgan Freeman, whose performance is the ONLY positive thing about this movie, could completely save it.
Monte Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman) is a wheelchair bound geriatric man in the twilight of his years who chooses to get away for city life in hopes that it'll cure his writers' block.
While there he meets much younger divorcée, Charlotte (Virginia Madsen) who along with her three daughters, warms his jaded, bitter heart.The fact that this movie is well-acted doesn't really make up for the fact that the two leads have little to no chemistry with each other which given what the film is about is pretty counterproductive to its intent.
Occasionally....just occasionally, Hollywood is able to produce a movie without a sugar syrup story, ridiculous stunts, and the usual hyped up extravagance that characterises American film product.Critics won't like it but that's a whole recommendation in itself.Watch and enjoy!.
This film makes a brain dead fanbase breathlessly approve of libtard Meathead Reiner's phoned-in direction.Change the soundtrack just slightly from "happy-happy" to "creepy-scary" and you'll have a different movie.In what Universe does a crippled black man who is cranky and drinks, befriend a white-bread single mom's entire family of girls?This would have been better as a horror story: Creepy old man befriends innocent children.
If you want to feel good, wrap yourself up in a story like a warm, familiar blanket, and listen to the amazing tones that is the voice of Morgan Freeman, this is very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.A man who has lived life and with the ability to describe it vividly finds himself spending the summer in temporary quarters...where he learns to heal, to recover, to influence, to teach, and to love again.
In the end, you can analyze the stuffings out of it, but it comes down to whether a movie makes you feel good and that it was time well spent.
The film intrigues and presents (in the first 10 minutes) as a feel good movie that explores one mans struggle with the bottle and the reigniting of his passion.
Find someone who can read you the phone book and make it sound beautiful; enter Morgan Freeman.The actors seem uptight as I think they knew what I know now- and that is this movie is a waste of time.
The acting especially from both Virginia Madsen and Morgan Freeman is second to none, i wont give anything away as i think the audience should experience the film as it is intended.
But I wonder if this is a sign that he's getting too old.This story should have all ingredients to make a great feel good movie, and starts off OK, but I'm afraid to say that the praises it gets here in other reviews are quite far off.
This is just like a mediocre TV-flick, and though it's well played by most actors, it's tediously boring, slow and misses the mark that a feel good film should have.Morgan Freeman is good as always, and Virginia Madsen is good, but here they had almost nothing to work on.
We just finished watching Belle Isle for the third time and it's just as enjoyable as it was the first two.If you're looking for the standard childish comedy, sappy romance or predictable drama that usually comes out of Hollywood these days, stay away.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a great family movie with a romantic wink, you'll enjoy this movie as much as us.The character evolution in the course of 90 minutes or so is something Reiner and Williams should be proud of, and the leads are very well played by Freeman and Madsen.If you want an excellent "feel good" sensation throughout, you'll find it with Belle Isle..
It was primarily because of Morgan Freeman and a couple of review I read here on IMDb - I decided to watch and I enjoyed this movie thoroughly.
This is a great family movie with simple but touching story about an old writer finding solace and motivation from a family of young girls and a single mother going through their own challenges in life and trying to settle in new surroundings.
Well, I found this, Morgan Freeman in a movie directed and co-written by Rob Reiner, was suspiciously slanted.
Part of this involves taking care of an old dog, whose refusal to fetch a ball will be a running gag throughout the entire film.In due time, Monte meets his next-door neighbor, the soon-to-be-divorced Charlotte O'Neil (Virginia Madsen), and her three daughters.
However, I do think it would have worked had it been separated from "The Magic of Belle Isle" and expanded into its own feature-length film, one a little less emotional and family- friendly.I grant you that the story is contrived and that specific characters, most notably Carl, are included primarily as foils for Monte as he undergoes emotional rehabilitation.
The same arm that is pointedly totally immobile during the whole film....(and yes I know Morgan has some real life disability in the arm) On the positive side is Emma Furhmann, the little girl's acting is beyond her years and she could be one for the future.
We all know that Morgan Freeman is in his 70's, and Virginia Madsen's character would have realistically been only in her mid-40's (as the mother of a 7-year old).
Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman team up for a 'feel good' movie..
He has done it again here, and while this one will not likely rise to the top of his list of accomplishments, it is a very nice one with a good story.Morgan Freeman is Monte Wildhorn , somewhat formerly famous author who has quit writing, and has become a curmudgeon of sorts.
If you can just go into this without having unrealistic expectations...its not an Academy Award film...and just be entertained and enjoy the characters and it really is a good solid movie.
Then there is the fact of Monte not being able-bodied and I kept thinking through the movie that would be an issue over time, added to the great age gap.The setting of the movie was one of the main characters of the film, bucolic and idyllic so it was easy to fall in love with it.
Though I may seem too critical, my husband and I enjoyed the film in its generality mainly because they are so few 'feel good' movies anymore.
I thought the movie was well acted (Morgan Freeman, as always, did not disappoint) and the story was great.
As a writer myself, I know what it's like to lose the ability to write a particular story or even character when something associated with it happens.
Definitely a must-watch if you want to know how the story develops!Starring Kenan Thompson and Kenan and Morgan Freeman as Kel..
Lots of potential, but I thought that Reiner should have seen that something in their acting was just a little off.Morgan Freeman makes this movie.