Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Franco's dark, strange, but appealing Faulkner adaptation.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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As I Lay Dying
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
It's 1930 in Mississippi, and Addie Bundren (Beth Grant) is dying. She lies in bed listening to her son Cash (Jim Parrack) building her coffin. The rest of her family, her husband Anse (Tim Blake Nelson) and her children Darl (James Franco), Jewel (Logan Marshall-Green), Dewey Dell (Ahna O'Reilly), and Vardaman (Brady Permenter), react to her death in different ways. The atmosphere grows darker when the family bands together to transport Addie's coffin back to her hometown for burial. They must deal with flooded rivers, a broken leg, and a barn fire. Can they withstand these tests and stick together?
Is It Any Good?
AS I LAY DYING takes more risks than most movies. It has been decades since anyone attempted to adapt a William Faulkner novel for the big screen, and certainly As I Lay Dying -- a novel with 15 different narrators -- was a difficult choice for actor/writer/director and all-around Renaissance man James Franco. Perhaps the easiest thing would have been to make one of those glossy, reverent, literary movies that never sprang to life. What Franco came up with instead is messy, bizarre, muted, and confusing, but it's also heartfelt and personal.
Franco is not precious about the period details. The costumes look like actual clothing, and the sets feel like real, lived-in places. The Mississippi accents are thick and unruly; it's very difficult to understand much of what Tim Blake Nelson -- who mumbles through a mouthful of rotten teeth -- says. Indeed, it's difficult to tune into any individual character, but the overall mood and the sense of family connection are quite strong.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the movie's violence. How do the darker and more disturbing moments help to underline or illustrate the family's hardship? Could the movie have been made without them?
How does this movie compare to the book? How does it compare to other literary adaptations you may have seen? Does the movie make you want to read the book, if you haven't already?
How does this movie compare with James Franco's other films? What could he be trying to say by choosing to make a movie from this particular book?
Movie Details
- In theaters : October 11, 2013
- On DVD or streaming : November 5, 2013
- Cast : Danny McBride , James Franco , Tim Blake Nelson
- Director : James Franco
- Studio : Millennium Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Book Characters
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : disturbing images, some sexual content and brief nudity
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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