Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies

A typically stellar effort from Edward Burns, Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies charts a few days in the lives of fiftysomething couple Jim (Burns) and Tina (Jennifer Ehle) and their aimless grown children (Brian Wiles’ Frankie and Hannah Dunne’s Debbie) – with conflict emerging as Jim and Tina have seemingly reached their limit in terms of coddling their less-than-ambitious offspring. Writer/director Burns delivers a deliberate yet consistently compelling drama that boasts a quartet of absolutely note-perfect performances, with, in particular, Ehle offering an often shattering turn as a woman convinced that her best days are (far) behind her. Burns’ patient sensibilities pave the way for an often quietly spellbinding midsection, and there’s little doubt that Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies paints a pointedly bleak picture of both parenthood and suburban living. And although the movie does fizzle out slightly in its home stretch, Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies nevertheless stands as a mature, impressively relatable endeavor from a distressingly underrated filmmaker.

***1/2 out of ****