The Accident . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

The Accident

DIRECTED BY: Joseph Lovett

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

A life-altering moment, crystalized in time, serves as the fulcrum for Joe Lovett's cinematic exploration of his family and the dynamics that fashioned very different childhood experiences for Lovett and his older siblings. Using a visually arresting mélange of old 8mm home movie footage, still photos, and video interviews, Lovett pieces together a complex, embattled family past that presents a new question for every answer it uncovers. The centerpiece, however, is Lovett's exacting re-creation of the freak car accident that claimed his mother's life. Shown throughout the documentary in brief, grainy, slow-motion fragments, we get an intimate sense of the images that haunt Joe and cause him to relive the experience 40 years later. As we come to know Joe's mother throughout this 98-minute documentary, the images begin to haunt us, too, and we end up sharing Joe's catharsis -- an experience that is both poignant and discomfiting.

--Hollis Chacona

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