Safe Passage DVD
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 Rating: - Transitions In Life Are Tough Stuff!
Safe Passages is an extremely engaging film of a family in the process of change. Susan Sarondon and Sam Shepherd play the parents of seven sons. All except one are now raised and out of the house. Sarandon having been a Mom since 19 is now in crisis; the realization of the energy she has spent raising her sons -- at the personal cost of any career or work is a challenging crossroads for her. We find her resentful of her children on one hand for having kept her away from career and frightened on the other hand of what to do with her life now that her sons are raised. She is completely uncertain that she can start a career at this point in her life.The entire family is summoned upon learning that one of the boys may have been killed in a terrorist bombing upon the Marie barracks he was assigned to. While clearly emergent, the family finds itself coming together only to be stuck together in wait -- the endless process of identifying who has died and who the survivors are is a careful and lengthy bureaucratic process. In the waiting together, the family is on one hand frightened at the prospect of the news they are waiting for while at the same time unintentionally re-examining their lives as a family unit. It is obvious by the kids' assessment of their Mom that she was a tremendous one. They are each extremely well grounded -- with the exception of the youngest who is still home caught in the midst of Mom and Dad's empty-nest crisis -- and have wonderful recollections of a strong loviing woman and a very involved father who reared them. The dad is the less dominant of the couple but he was very clearly involved in the loving care of raising his sons, although more involved with the two boys who were runners who shared his common interest in running. The empty-nest is difficult for him as well. When we meet both parents, beyond the emergency of their missing son, both of them are going through the worst of redefining their identities. Mom seems to believe she has nothing in common with Dad other than the boys at this point. Mom is a bit over the edge and has announced a separation. Dad is sleeping in his office.Through the coming together of the family, much of the crises seem to abate as Sarondon and Shephard realize that they have done a pretty good job of raising well adjusted men who like each other and have a deep respect for their parents.The movie's ending is a hopeful one, the immediate foreshadowing of the promise of Sage Passage for the parents is the news that their Marine son has survived and is fine. While it finishes there, we're pretty confident that Sarondon and Shepherd will make Safe Passages of their own as they move on together as a couple -- for the first time in many years -- without parental responsibilities.Excellent performances by Susan Sarondon, Sean Astin and Robert Sean Leonard.

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