CLANCY Review

Last night my husband and I were all set to go to bed and as I embarked on my final channel surf before turning the set off, I decided to hit the bathroom first.  When I returned, I found my husband watching something intently.  He had grabbed the remote and found a channel that was playing a new movie from a man that we had enjoyed in several other productions- Jefferson Moore- just as it started.

There are precious few movies that I would have made myself stay up to see last night at this late of a time, and this was one of them.

WHAT IS CLANCY LIKE?

Thankfully the movie was listed on the TV guide and I saw that it was called CLANCY.  Jefferson Moore has had some very deeply moving and exciting movies in the past called THE PERFECT STRANGER and various sequels that came from that very innovative movie.

This movie, CLANCY, however, is a different sort of movie.  Jefferson Moore plays a Gulf War Veteran who has fallen on some very hard times and has had to live on the streets homeless.

Clancy is a young girl about 12 years old or so who has a mother who is a drug addict.  This mother is highly abusive and you get the message that this poor girl has been through a hell that many of us only read about in books.  In order to push her mother to get help before they can send her to a foster home, Clancy runs away and asks God to lead her to someone to take care of her while she waits for her mother to get some help.

She comes upon Nick (Jefferson Moore) who is a very bitter angry man after being treated poorly in the special forces, in many unjust things that happened to him afterward and through his life. Most people could relate to why he felt as he did- as this man suffered greatly in his life.

He is a grumpy mean guy on the outside, but there is a delightful light that is  reawakened that seems to come from his heart that Clancy brings out of him.

There is a subplot of a crooked mayor and police officer who want to use this as an occasion to eliminate Nick in order to further political ambitions which left us in suspense wanting to know what was going to happen.  The outright injustice and cruelty that these men want to engage in is realistic and upsetting, but it does not bring the movie beyond family movie status.  It does end on a positive note.

COMMENTS ON THE MOVIE

It is very difficult to write about the movie CLANCY without giving too much away.  It was one of the most deeply moving movies that I have seen in quite some time.  Clancy was the most delightful little girl in the movie and the interaction between her and Nick was interesting and endearing.  We found ourselves falling in love with these characters and identifying with them both.

The story is engrossing and made us want to know these people.  The supporting cast is wonderful.  There are a lot of people in this movie and all of them seemed very natural and believable part of the story.  I am under the impression that this movie was in the similar homegrown style of FACING THE GIANTS, and FIREPROOF.

After seeing the last roles that Jefferson Moore has played his role as Nick is delightfully different.  The girl who played Clancy (Christina Dawn Fougnie) was truly remarkable in this part.  Her honesty and intensity was refreshing and delightful.  The best way I can describe this is like a modern day Pollyanna whose life was anything but good, yet she decided to make the best of it.  It does not end all neat and tidy like some similar older Walt Disney movies do, but it does end beautifully.

I can not rave about this movie enough.  It was rated G, yet was deep and moving in a way that precious few movies are these days.  The movie was done very well and for an independent film, I was truly impressed as was my husband.  I can not wait for our kids to see this as well.  I will make sure to have the kleenex handy though.  It is truly beautiful.

I do not want to give the movie away since half the fun of it is watching it without knowing what to expect, but I can say that it is well worth the time to watch it.  CLANCY goes beyond the term " feel good " movie.  It is really deep.

WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE

I am not sure if CLANCY is out on DVD yet, but it was out in theaters in limilted engagements in March of 2009.

I did find the web site where you can get more information on CLANCY.

www.clancymovie.com

I encourage you to look up this movie and keep an eye out for it if it comes on TV again or if it becomes available on DVD.  It is truly a special movie.    That is why I took the time to review it right away because this movie is not one that will be easily known about unless by word of mouth at this point anyway.  Such a great movie should not be missed.