The Cake Eaters

The local butcher, Easy (Bruce Dern), and his docile-faced son Beagle (Aaron Stanford), seem to be getting on just fine in "The Cake Eaters," a slow-paced drama set in a time-warped village in upstate New York. All's well, that is, until the older son, Guy (Jayce Bartok, who also wrote the screenplay), comes home for the first time in three years, a month late for his mother's funeral. The three wander the house in her absence, trying to act as men should: They talk to their beers instead of each other and overdose on cholesterol-drenched breakfasts. They pursue women with varying degrees of success. (Full review)

Mary Stuart Masterson assembles a powerful cast for her directorial debut - including stars Kristen Stewart ("Twilight") and Aaron Stanford ("X-Men: The Last Stand"), and supporting stars Bruce Dern and Elizabeth Ashley - and none of them let her down in this tale about the sometimes fleeting nature of love in a small town. (Full review)