Movie Review: A Little Prayer (Chicago Critics Film Festival)
A Little Prayer is a gem of a movie. A drama that lets you live with a family and understand the ins and outs of how they function, elements of their past, and all their personalities. It makes you feel like you are part of this family, or that you have been invited in and are staying in the guest room.
A Little Prayer centers around Bill (David Strathairn) and his family. Bill owns a sheet metal plant, and his wife, Venida (Celia Weston), does historical tours dressed in historically accurate attire. Bill’s son David (Will Pullen), who works with Bill at the plant, and his wife Tammy (Jane Levy) live in Bill’s guest house. Every morning, Tammy gets up early and makes Bill and David their lunch before they head off to work, and she works part-time at a local grocery store. All seems to be going well for Bill and his family.
But all isn’t what it seems, as family secrets and dynamics start to bubble to the surface, starting with a surprise visit from Bill and Venida’s daughter Patti (Anna Camp) and her young daughter Hadley (Billie Roy) after they left Hadley’s abusive and drug-using father. Things get worse when Bill finds out David is having an affair with a co-worker and that he and Tammy are having trouble getting pregnant. Bill doesn’t know how to react to what is happening around him, and it all makes him question his life as a father and as the patriarch of the family.
David Strathairn is miraculous in A Little Prayer. It isn’t a loud performance, but one that simmers below the surface as Bill’s life starts to unravel before his eyes, but he can never show it. Bill is a good guy. He runs a nice business, pays for drinks at the VFW, attends services for other fallen veterans, and takes care of his home. He has built a seemingly dream life, and he has worked hard to do so, which makes it heartbreaking when Patti continuously abuses his help or when we see the kind of person David has become. A Little Prayer shows how even a good man can raise children who aren’t very good themselves.
The only one Bill can connect with besides his wife is Tammy. Levy gives a career-best performance as a woman who keeps mostly to herself and loves helping Bill and Venida. She, too, has secrets and stresses and worries about life that she handles herself. Both Bill and Tammy keep everything internalized, saving face in front of everyone in the family. The two share a conversation that closes the film, which is an emotional powerhouse, each delivering gut-punch revelations about their lives in somber, quiet, dignified fashions. It’s a dynamite scene of love, sadness, and regret, perfectly encapsulating everything about A Little Prayer.
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