arts & entertainment
Motherless Child Yearns for Reunion in Inspirational Family Flick
M OvIE
r EvIEWS
by Kam
Williams
T
rinity Goodheart (Erica
Gluck) is inconsolable from
the moment her mother
(Kellin Watson) vanishes into thin
air through the fateful day she
finds half of a heart-shaped pen-
dant lying on her bed. Convincing
herself that the precious keepsake
was delivered by a guardian angel
on behalf of her long-lost mother,
the desperate 12 year-old seizes on
the discovery as a promising sign
of a possible impending reunion.
After all, the saying inscribed on
the back of the torn locket prophe-
sies, “Every broken heart longs to
be whole again.”
Such wistful thinking is under-
standable given how immature her
father, Jeremy (Eric Benet), has
been behaving lately. The aspiring
musician has barely been able to
keep a roof over their heads since
quitting his steady job at a bank.
Consequently, he’s currently been
reduced to playing his saxophone
for tips on the streets of Boston.
The stressful situation has taken
a toll on Trinity’s performance at
school where the once straight-A
student finds herself at risk of sus-
pension because of a declining
attendance record. The problem is
that the precocious adolescent is
smart enough to understand that
she and her panhandling dad
urgently need someone to lean on,
despite the fact that he is too proud
to approach his attorney parents
for help.
They consider Jeremy the black
sheep of the family since he failed
to follow in their footsteps by
attending law school like his
brother did. Meanwhile, Jeremy is
even more estranged from his
well-to-do
in-laws,
The
Hawthornes, who never gave him
a chance just because they didn’t
like the idea of a black man mar-
rying their white daughter. Sadly,
they even continued to refuse to
reconcile after the birth of their
only grandchild.
Over her father’s objections,
Trinity secretly tracks down both
sets of her grandparents on her
own, reasonably expecting them
to let bygones be bygones, if only
for the sake of solving the mystery
of her missing mother. However,
when her surprisingly surfacing
only stirs up old controversies, she
decides to run away from home
out of frustration, hitchhiking
from Beantown to Buffalo, the
place she suspects holds the key to
her missing mom’s disappearance.
Thus unfolds Trinity Goodheart,
Page 6 The Portland Skanner august 17, 2011
a wholesome family flick based on
a script by Rhonda Baraka.
Though shot on a shoestring budg-
et, Joanne Hock makes an impres-
sive directorial debut with this
modern morality play with an
uplifting, if bittersweet message
about forgiveness and the impor-
tance of family.
Much of the credit for the
movie’s success must be attributed
to the chemistry generated
between its talented co-stars, Erica
Gluck and Eric
Benet, given
that the story
primarily
r e v o l v e s
around
their
characters’ dys-
functional father-daughter rela-
tionship. Though an original pro-
duction by the Gospel Music
Channel Network, the film only
hints at a faith-based agenda via
light touches such as Trinity’s
name and lines like, “Don’t forget
to say your prayers.”
A present-day parable delivering
a powerful reminder that much
wisdom often still comes from the
mouths of babes.
Trinity Goodheart is set make its
world premiere on the GMC-TV
Network on Saturday, Aug. 20 at 9
PM ET/PT (8 PM CT) with addi-
tional airings on Sunday, Aug. 21
and Monday, Aug. 22 at 9 PM
ET/PT (8 PM CT).
Trinity Goodheart
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 84
Minutes
Distributor: GMC
Network (Gospel
Music Channel)
See a trailer for Trinity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=_4ZyWKq0xf0