Natural Selection

source: Natural Selection

Yes this is a gem. Acting that makes you forget you are watching a movie. Thank you to all who made it happen.

I was more than surprised by this film. The performance of the two main characters was authentic and moving. Linda and Raymond were both desperate and lonely people yearning for human connection. The film takes us on a whirlwind trip through powerful, unexamined emotions. A few of the supporting characters were under developed, but did not seriously detract from the movie. I was moved by the power of this little film.

This is a lovely movie. The acting is superb. You could truly feel the characters emotions. If more had been resolved at the end, I would have had no problem rating this a perfect ten. Sadly, however, it is one of those where you have to imagine your own ending - and I hate that.

We absolutely love this movie! From start to finish we were mesmerized...It has a fantastic story line and not your typical ending. I highly recommend watching it

Set against the backdrop of a devout Christian family, Natural Selection is more than a satire of Christianity. It is a light-hearted story about warped individuals connected by love. Rachel Harris plays the faithful wife of her religious husband who refuses to have sex with her because it is sinful to have sex for pleasure and not for reproduction. As Linda (Rachel's character) is infertile, sexual intercourses can only result in a pampering for lust. The twist crops up when Adam the husband collapses from a stroke at a sperm bank where he has secretly frequented for 20 years. Instead of falling into a fit of rage at Adam's "infidelity", or betrayal because as a guy he can justify his * from donating sperms while a woman can only stay painfully celibate, Linda sets out on a solo road trip to find Adam's sperm-son, Raymond, played by Matt O'Leary. To carry on the comic vibe of the film, the son turns out to be a foul-mouthed oddball and a junkie wanted by the police. While Raymond is a far cry from the social league of Rachel, they surprisingly develop a very strong relationship. Both actors had amazing performance. It's a joy to see their chemistry, which makes the story so absurd yet so believable. One may think this is just a story to taunt people's dogmatic observance of their religious beliefs. But Robbie Pickering has another surprise in store, which actually shifts the focus on the internal journey of Linda in her struggle with forgiveness, self- identity, and also the cravings of love and sex. As Raymond turns out to be a responsible, self-accountable adult at the end, Linda attains an even greater transformation which is also up to the audience's interpretation. If you want a movie for a laugh and a touch of the heart, Natural Selection is your naturally the choice to be!

I found this one on Netflix streaming movies. Very quirky comedy about a woman, married 25 years in a sexless relationship, now trying to find some closure in her life. Matt O'Leary is Raymond (or pretending to be Raymond). As the movie opens we see him making some sort of escape from one of the Huntsville prisons. (There are 9 prisons in the Huntsville area.) He somehow has crawled into a large grass mower bag and as the mowing guy takes a break, Raymond tears open the bag and runs away. We will see him later in the story. Rachael Harris is really good as Linda who as we eventually learn became pregnant when she was 16 and her older sister arranged an abortion. They thought the doctor was good but as a result of the procedure she lost her ability to have children. She and her husband being very strict Christians, he refused to have sex with her for the 25 years of their marriage because of the Biblical admonition of a spilling his seed on barren ground. John Diehl is the husband, Abe. But Abe has kept a secret all those years, he had been visiting a sperm bank in Jersey Village (right down the street from where I live!) as his way of insuring that he passed down his genetic makeup. No one would have known, had he not suffered the stroke in the clinic while "making a contribution" (wink, wink). So this information throws Linda's world all upside down. When she asks a worker at the clinic how long her husband had been going there, "I'm not sure, I've only worked here since 1988." As Abe first regains consciousness he whispers something that Linda thinks means she should find his son. (I found myself wondering, if he had been doing that for all of their marriage, might he not have 20 or 30 children running around? Or more??) Anyway she manages to sneak some information that identifies Abe as the biological father of a Raymond who lives in Tampa, FL. So most of the movie is Linda's road trip first trying to find Raymond and convince him to go back to Texas and meet his dying biological father, then the road trip of multiple mishaps trying to get back to Texas. It was mostly entertaining, in a goofy, quirky sort of way. SPOILERS: When Linda finds the Tampa address and finds Raymond, he lies to her. He isn't really Raymond, only rooms with him, but needs a quick ride out of Tampa to avoid police, presumably tracking him down after the Huntsville prison escape. He is an untrustworthy opportunist and Linda is a gentle, trusting soul. This gets them into a number of binds, her car and all her cash in her money belt are stolen, Raymond manages to trade some drugs for a small dirt bike get them home, wherever that was. It looked like Bastrop and Smithville. The last scene has Linda going to the Gulf and wading in the water, symbolic I suppose, because in spite of her "barrenness" became pregnant in a drunken fit of passion on the road trip home. To the young man she thought was her husband's son. Yes, a bit quirky.

The two main characters made the story, even though I had a tough time understanding a woman of Linda's age having so few basic survival instincts when she first meets the, clearly dangerous, druggie son. I got a huge kick out of the 'slice of devout Christian life' (at least as far as these characters were concerned), the inherent hypocrisy they were living daily, and making good excuses to themselves and others for such inconsistency in how they stood by their beliefs. There were gaps in the storyline, that if they'd been there, the characters (especially Linda) would have been a bit less hard to understand/empathize with, but overall these gaps did not ruin the movie. The biggest problem I found with the story, and why I didn't rate it even higher, is that the story skipped from the 'dark moment' straight to the ending without US, the audience, getting to see Linda prove that she had grown and changed (by making that stand to her husband, and to her abusive sister, as well). Also: The ending shot, really, (and maybe this is because we didn't get to see her face down the person that had 'done her wrong' and prove that she finally had a spine), didn't really feel like it matched the actual character arc that the screenwriter started out wanting her to have (or wanting us to think she was going to have). The first shot we see of her (and quite a few more as the story progresses) seems to say that she is a woman who needs to empower herself sexually (and by doing so, empower herself in all other areas of her life where she has been a doormat), to overcome the event from her past that sent her into her current life, but, alas, this is not ever resolved on camera. Instead, the resolution takes place off screen, and all we see is where she goes to enjoy her new-found freedom. (Of course, since I didn't get to see her stand up for herself, I can't help but think: okay, here you are, in your current state--what are you going to do now? Are you even capable of taking care of yourself? Since I didn't get to see her take charge of her life, it leaves me wondering if she actually did, or if she'll fail and go back to her old life after her little 'vacation' from it. Would I watch this film again? Yes, probably--because I found the concept very compelling, and the two main actors played off of each other extremely well.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I wasn't expecting much, and it held my attention and kept me engaged throughout. The characterization is quiet and powerful, and the writing is excellent. Not really predictable at all, which made it refreshing. A great, subtle blend of comedy and drama. This is a very strong feature directorial debut for Pickering, who also wrote the film. (He has another film in pre-pro for release next year – I will most definitely make a note to see it). Very textured story, great writing, with lots of great metaphors and offers many poignant critiques of gray areas of culture, religion, and relationships. The acting, editing, and score are also excellent.

natural selection - my friend picked this film to watch, and it looked like a slapstick comedy, luckily for me it wasn't. i was not familiar with the actors, but thought all the performances were excellent. this film has a lot of heart, its quirky, but not in a pretentious way. an excellent movie about love and relationships. i found the movie touching sad funny and never knew how the film would end, right up until the credits started to roll. i recommend this movie to just about everyone. if you track it down, grab it you maybe as surprised as i was. fantastic drama comedy, that is as good as any movie with the big budget and big stars.