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Bonnie Hunt, Kip Pardue, Tess Harper, Chris Sarandon, Michael Learned ... see more see more... , Michael Kelly , Robin Weigert , Ann Pierce , Michael Harding , Valerie Watkins

Tim Kirkman wrote and directed Loggerheads, a film that follows three different storylines that all transpire over the course of a Mother's Day weekend, but take place at different times. One of the s... read more read more...tories features a man who arrives in a coastal North Carolina town in order to preserve turtles that are endangered. He becomes involved with a local businessman and must decide where he feels in his heart that he belongs. A second story concerns a woman who begins to feel her small-town changing in ways that frighten her. She must face these changing social realities while constantly listening to the speeches of her minister husband. The third storyline involves a woman who intends to spend the weekend celebrating the holiday with her own mother while also attempting to make contact with the child she gave up for adoption years before. Loggerheads was a selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Flixster Users

37% liked it

13,165 ratings

Critics

74% liked it

46 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Tim Kirkman

Release Date: January 21, 2005

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DVD Release Date: March 21, 2006

Stats: 140 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (140)

  • SunilJawahir
    April 4, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    A bit sappy but very likeable movie about a woman's search for the child she gave up for adoption.
  • Turfseer
    March 31, 2010
    Turfseer
    Slow-paced like a turtle

    *** This review may contain spoilers ***

    At the beginning of 'Loggerheads', we're introduced to three pairs of seemingly unrelated characters. To make matters even more confusing, we're informed (via titles on the screen) that the action is taking place... read more in three separate time lines (between the years 1999 and 2001). It takes a great deal of time but eventually we come to see how the three pairs are related: Mark Austin, a young man in his 20s, gay and HIV Positive is estranged from his conservative parents, Elizabeth and Rev. Robert Austin.

    Mark is now a drifter and arrives in Kure Beach, North Carolina, a seaside town, where he meets George (sensitively played by Michael Kelly), a gay motel owner and they eventually become involved with each other. Meanwhile, Mark's birth mother, Grace (played by Bonnie Hunt) has come to the point in her life where she has decided to find the son she gave up for adoption when she was 17. Similarly, Mark's adoptive mother, also has decided to track her estranged son as she misses him (despite the misgivings of her homophobic minister husband).

    'Loggerheads' we're told is based on a true story and that perhaps is its Achilles Heel. Director/Writer Tim Kirkman tries too hard to create scenes fraught with dramatic tension where there is very little to be found. Take Mark and George?they're both sensitive souls who have little to disagree about. There's some slight tension when Grace faces off against an Adoption Agency Director who is forbidden by law to give her any information about her lost son as well as a slight conflict with her mother who denies that she disapproved of her when she became pregnant as a teenager. No sparks fly either between Elizabeth and Robert since the good Reverend has adamantly insisted from the beginning that he has no intention of reconciling with his son.

    'Loggerheads' is similar to 'Brokeback Mountain' in that the gay couple are the good guys and the straight males (for example, the Kure Beach cop and the Reverend) are the baddies. The biggest letdown of the movie is that there is no interaction (and hence no dramatic conflict) between Mark and either one of his 'mothers'. Mark is already dead before either the birth or adoptive mother has a chance to reconcile with him.

    Kirkman's theme is both a plea for tolerance and an exhortation for family members to express their heartfelt feelings before it's too late! Kirkman's sentiments are for the most part well-intentioned but they do not make for good drama. Loggerheads moves along at a snail's pace without providing any new revelations (or suspense) regarding such topics as AIDS, Adoption and Homophobia. Ultimately 'Loggerheads' fails due to its slow pacing.
  • gms1yygy
    February 6, 2008
    gms1yygy
    WOW! To get a glimpse of the story, put your cursor on the movie cover. It gives a good summary. This is a powerful movie with some very finely drawn characters with some serous real life issues.. My favorite line: The minister's wife goes to a neighbor to complain about the ver... read morey large nude statue of David she has in her front yard. She suggests that the neighbor move it to the back yard where everyone won't have to see it. The neighbor responds, :"That's how you deal with life, isn't it? Move everything you don't like out of sight and refuse to discuss it." Very good movie!
  • atw1960
    September 2, 2007
    atw1960
    A quiet movie filmed mainly by the ocean North Carolina,wish the love story was longer,& the 3 separate storeis could have come full -circle in a diff way
  • hensonkid
    May 10, 2006
    hensonkid
    Featuring Prince Humperdink as a southern fundamentalist preacher. I suspect Gilder had something to do with his son's demise.

View All Loggerheads Reviews

Critic Reviews

Sean Means
February 3, 2006
Sean Means, Film.com

The dramatic tension is nil. But the performances, particularly by Hunt (in a non-comedic role, for a change), are worth a look.

Roger Moore
January 26, 2006
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

... an understated and heartfelt story, superbly acted, with a strong sense of people and place. Full Review

Steve Murray
January 12, 2006
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite a meandering tone, Loggerheads is consistently watchable thanks to committed actors playing recognizable, decent folks just trying to do the right thing -- or rectify mistakes of the past. Full Review

Michael Booth
December 9, 2005
Michael Booth, Denver Post

This quiet community and family drama set on the North Carolina shore offers a bighearted outlook on how to absorb change and defeat. Full Review

Ty Burr
December 2, 2005
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Slow, unadorned, compassionate, and earnest, Loggerheads is a low-fi throwback to the independent films of the 1980s and '90s -- heartland miniatures hewn from plainspoken lives. Full Review

John Monaghan
November 11, 2005
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

Loggerheads has the best qualities of independent filmmaking.

Tom Long
November 11, 2005
Tom Long, Detroit News

Featuring a number of nicely honed performances and weaving three initially disparate tales into one, Loggerheads delivers far more than you might expect.

Richard Roeper
October 31, 2005
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

This felt like a Lifetime movie to me. Full Review

Walter V. Addiego
October 21, 2005
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

In the end, for all its good intentions, Loggerheads is so slow and earnest that it's hard for the viewer not to lose patience. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 21, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Loggerheads is not a movie where the emotions are tidy and the messages are clear. Full Review

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  • Now I know corrections are annoying, I've had enough of them, but if everyone else is having their say, so am I. Just got a question about Sleeping Beauty that claimed Fauna and Flora fought over the colour of Aurora's dress. Wasn't it Fauna and Merryweather who were at loggerheads?  Answer »
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