Flesh And Bone is not the glamorous pair up you'd expect from a matrimonial Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. It's a dark, grim and menacing tale of corrupted innocence, evil deeds and the sour fate that brings them full circle. Quaid plays Arlis Sweeney, a small time vending machine dealer with a dark past. His usual charm and appeal is gone here, a stormy, traumatized sheet on his face instead of that usual mile wide smile. Arlis harbors a troubling secret: He watched his no good criminal daddy murder an entire family when he was but a youngster, leaving him a haunted soul. His path crosses with rowdy, promiscuous Kay Davies (Meg Ryan) a girl with mysterious secrets of her own which eerily relate to Arlis's own past. When demon daddy re-enters his life, there's a thunderclap of portentous dread that mounts on the horizon like the ashen clouds of southern Texas where the film was shot. His name is Roy Sweeney, and he's played by a cackling James Caan, slithering into the skin of a character so unredeemable and nasty that we feel the slime emanating from the screen. He's a guy that danger follows around like a curse, and for better or for worse, Arlis must reconcile his own twisted mind and bring the legacy of bloodshed to a halt. Tagging along with Roy is a skanky and very young Gwyneth Paltrow, basically walking collateral damage. It's a heavy thriller with few breaks for breathing room, but it rolls with the violent, south western pulp we've come to love from artists like Cormac McCarthy and the like, adding it's own moody, laconic pace that heightens to unbearable tension with little notice and less flair, making it hit you all the harder. Supporting turns weigh in from Christopher Rydell, Barbara Alyn Woods, John Hawkes and character actor Scott Wilson as Arlis's dodgy business partner. Great stuff if you can shake the doom and gloom off after and hold onto the stark beauty and tragedy that it's laced with.

source: Flesh and Bone

I came across this film as many others have, by chance and loved it. It is an intelligent and absorbing story with excellent performances from all involved. The locations are great too and are all beautifully shot. Now for the lesson - if you want to see great films stay away from the big studio productions with huge distribution budgets to settle and ignore the hype. The big Hollywood production houses have forgotten the art great movie making. I'm afraid the only thing they know how to do now is how to sell them, instead of how to make them. Make no mistake this was a great film and suffered because no one sold it and so was largely ignored.

probably one of the best vehicles for Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Palthrow and Caan were interesting also. I think Quaid is somehow irritating to watch as an actor. he is not handsome and I suppose appeals to a certain audience but not to me. Ryan was good- and this shows her girl next door sex appeal. Palthrow was very sexy in her bad girl role. Quaid always appears to me as a guy who had bad breath and stinky farts in school. I met him once when he was filming DOA in San Marcos. He is from Houston. His brother is ugly and knows it- Dennis maybe doesn't know it yet?

I just want to add that I concur with the summaries by "Amy Adler" and "carnivalofsouls". I think that this movie has absolutely wonderful acting by the entire cast. I disagree with those that feel that the ending doesn't hold up to the rest of the story. How could it end in any other way? Near the beginning Kay (Ryan's character) asks Arlis (Quaid)if he has ever been in love. They both admit to never having really felt that for anyone. Later, as Arlis' father comments to him, he could see that this girl was different for him. He could see the love they each had for the other. But even had the father not shown up, Arlis would have seen her family photograph, he could have made no other decision. And maybe part of the reason for his falling for her was her vulnerability, and his protection of her, even before the very end. He would not have been willing to sacrifice himself, except for the evil childhood that his father willed to him, and the love he had for this young woman. Especially THIS young woman. This woman, he had really fallen in love with. It could end no other way. I want it to. I think that the movie makes us want it to. But given the circumstances of the entire story, the whole point was to "tie up those loose ends." Arlis does this because by this point in his life, this love for Kay, he is forced to truly stand on his own. He just, simply, MUST tie up the loose ends for his own life, as well as to continue to protect the only woman he has ever really loved. And for me, as well as our two main protagonists, it is a devastating heartbreak. But it could end no other way. That is the climax of the entire story. That is the REASON for the story.

This is not a film where everything appears obvious. It is dark and complicated. It is about how the past haunts you and affects your life in the present. It is the stuff that Freud would have fun dealing with. The stars in this film give performances that are among the best in their careers. Dennis Quaid (Frequency, Far From Heaven) is clearly the lead in this picture as the son of a soulless murderer and thief (James Caan). He carries the devil with him through his life and it affects his relationships with women. He runs into an abused housewife (Meg Ryan, in a non-romantic role), and they travel the back-roads of Texas together. Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakesphere in Love) is a thief that plays Caan's companion, even if he is old enough to be her grandfather. This is written and directed by the Oscar nominated (Wonder Boys) writer of all of the Harry Potter movies, Steve Kloves. He does a fabulous job. Definitely a movie to watch when you get a chance.

You will never see Meg Ryan in a role like this. She was phenomenal and it is unfortunate she did not get more roles like this. Dennis Quaid and Gwyneth Paltrow were also excellent and these three make the film worth watching. James Caan is fine, but his role is so one- dimensional that no actor can do much with it, and indeed he didn't. This film is a must see because of the characters. The plot is compelling and very dark, but the characters shine through and illuminate each other in a way that is unique because each character has dimensions that are not explained. Paltrow's character seems like a throwaway, but may be the most important of all. If I were teaching a course on film, I would select this one and ask the students to explain why it works. I usually think I know why a film is excellent, and yet after this film ended, I knew I could not put it into words. The purpose of this review is to suggest you watch this one if you get a chance because you may love it. Most who watched this movie were pleased but unenthusiastic. This film is much, much better than the 6.2 rating it had when I checked.

Arlis (Dennis Quaid) is a vending machine owner who roams from town to town in West Texas. Greatly disturbed by horrific memories from his childhood, Arlis fails to connect with the women he meets. He prefers trysts with married women where no strings are attached. All of this changes the day Arlis meets Kay (Meg Ryan). Running away from an abusive and spendthrift husband, Kay encounters Arlis in a bar under amusing circumstances. Soon after, she is traveling with him on his circuit and they are falling in love. Bliss, however, is short. Arlis' evil father (James Caan) re-enters the life of his son and Arlis must once again suffer the consequences of the ties that bind them. Will it be possible for Arlis to break free from his past and begin a new life with Kay? This is, truly, one of the most haunting films ever made. The story is a multi-faceted study of the nature of good and evil. Quaid and Ryan give such depth to their doomed and complex characters that the viewer stays mesmerized as the story unfolds. Caan, too, is a wonder as the bad-to-the-bone father. As for the sweeping and lovely cinematography, it perfectly realizes the beauty and desolation that is west Texas. The final scenes are guaranteed to put a lump in anyone's throat, tears included. Recommended highly for discriminating movie fans everywhere.

Once in a while you come across someone who is a little odd, or haunted, or unsociable, or all of the above, and you wonder to yourself how they might have gotten that way. What made them that way? Why are they so terminally sad? Steve Koves has brought us the back story to those questions. His script and handling of the story are stellar. This is not a happy film. But it is a fascinating one. Everyone in this cast is at their best. But it is Dennis Quaid, who gives the best performance of his ample career, that breaths this story to life, or, death, as it were. He plays Arliss. Arliss has a nickel and dime vending machine business that takes him through the most desolate parts of Texas. His work is so lowly that he doesn't even handle paper money. Coins and dyed chickens are his stock and trade. He pours himself into his boring work as if he is trying to take his mind off of something. Something unpleasant. We know what that something is from the opening of the movie. What unfolds now is the picture of what a destroyed life looks like as it tries to outrun it's past. Quaid is brilliant at creating a haunted and wounded Arliss without making him pathetic. He is the obscure guy you might run across unexpectedly that makes you go, hmmm, what happened to him. There is nothing about this film that isn't first rate. I am mystified by it's "average" rating here on this site. I suppose if you hate good scripts, skillful directing, brilliant performances, and haunting sound and cinematography, I guess I could see giving this movie a 5. It is certainly possible not to like this type of film. But it is negligent, as a viewer, not to acknowledge it's quality. It is an excellent piece of film making and Dennis Quaid shows just what a brilliant and understated actor he is. James Caan, Meg Ryan, and Gwyneth Paltrow are also up to Quaids level here. I highly recommend this movie. It's different. It's interesting. It's engrossing. And it's brilliantly done.

Son helps his father kill an entire family, save for the baby. Flash forward Son, now grown up, falls for the grown up survivor. But uh-oh dad shows up again. This would have been a ok film if not for Meg Ryan's 'Moons over Mi-Hammy" performence in the beggining. It's deffinately not a good sign when each bit of dialog from her mouth prevokes a wince. Furthermore the plot is more than a tad contrived. I've heard that this is one of Paltrows best performances, which is easy to believe with such 'gems' as "Duets", "View From the Top", and "Sylvia", but in all honesty The onetime almost Mrs. Brad Pitt seems to sleepwalk through this movie. Why she is praised I haven't a clue. I guess the saying is true, it really IS who you know (she's more talented then both Sharon Stone and Juilette Lewis, but trust me that is NOT saying much. My Grade: D+ Where I saw it: HBO.