Canvas

PG-13

Released Oct 12, 2007

1h 41m

Drama

List

77%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

62%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

In a small coastal town, contractor John Marino (Joe Pantoliano) struggles to understand his wife, Mary (Marcia Gay Harden), when she starts behaving strangely. After a doctor's visit, they discover she has schizophrenia. Nothing the doctors do helps, however, so John must live with his wife's incurable mental illness, while also helping their confused child Chris (Devon Gearhart) make sense of it. But as Mary's mental state declines, John finds an unexpected source of comfort in his son.

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Critics Consensus

Canvas is a faithful portrayal of mental illness highlighted by terrific performances.

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Hank Sartin

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Stephen Garrett

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Jason Anderson

Toronto Star

Though Canvas may not deviate much from the formula followed by so many other movies about families imperiled by health crises, it's unusually perceptive about the ways that loved ones process (or fail to process) the resulting stress.

Rated: 2.5/4

Dec 12, 2008

Full Review

John Griffin

Montreal Gazette

It's worth hanging on for where Greco goes with this.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 9, 2009

Full Review

Chris Alexander

Metro

Movies don't come more personal than Canvas, writer/director/co-producer Joseph Greco's serious-minded exploration of the devastating effects unleashed by mental illness upon an otherwise tightly knit American family.

Rated: 3.5/4

Dec 12, 2008

Full Review

Bruce Kirkland

Jam! Movies

There is something to be said for a filmmaker like Greco who takes the truth -- no matter how tough it is -- and turns it into a compelling drama about people we might know in life.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 12, 2008

Full Review

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Cees T

8.5/10 - Great. Could use more detail.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/01/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Good acting and good story.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Frances H

What I liked about this film is that it could have been like an overdramatic Litetime movie, but instead treated the subject seriously, yet hopefully. My mother became a schizophrenic and was repeatedly hospitalized for it for long periods beginning when I was 8 years old, so I know how it goes. There are really bad periods, but also long periods of normality. Unlike in the 50s when my mom was ill and there was only electroshock treatment, medications are helping today. And this film made the point that the the illness doesn't really take away your loved one forever--like Altzheimer's does. The acceptance of family is everything.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/05/14

Full Review

Audience Member

Writer-director Joseph Greco makes a nice feature-film debut telling a true, disturbing story about a 10-year-old boy struggling to cope with a schizophrenic mother.The performances are also terrific SEE IT!!!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wonderful, overlooked drama with Marcia Gay Harden. Pantoliano's best work in a lead role.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is a little overly mellow and slow-moving, but it's also very human and touching. The best acting, surprisingly, comes from Devon Gearhart, but the entire cast performs incredibly well and really involves you in the lives of this struggling family. It serves to put things into perspective and make you think about how lucky you really are and how no matter how hard you think things are, there's always someone who's got it worse. I expected this to be bleak and depressing, and at times it is, but ultimately it gives hope and encouragement, which is not something a lot of recent movies can do.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

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Joseph Greco

Director

Joe Pantoliano

John Marino

Marcia Gay Harden

Mary Marino

Devon Gearhart

Chris Marino

Sophi Bairley

Dawn

Marcus Johns

Sam

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Synopsis

In a small coastal town, contractor John Marino (Joe Pantoliano) struggles to understand his wife, Mary (Marcia Gay Harden), when she starts behaving strangely. After a doctor's visit, they discover she has schizophrenia. Nothing the doctors do helps, however, so John must live with his wife's incurable mental illness, while also helping their confused child Chris (Devon Gearhart) make sense of it. But as Mary's mental state declines, John finds an unexpected source of comfort in his son.

Director: Joseph Greco
Producer: Sharon Lane, Alan H. Rolnick
Screenwriter: Joseph Greco
Production Co: Rebellion Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Mature Thematic Elements)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 26, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.5K
Runtime: 1h 41m

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