The Glass Castle Parent Guide

Complicated, engaging, inspiring and possibly disturbing, The Glass Castle, with its US PG-13 rating, defines the need for “parental guidance”. Not likely to be on the top of your teen’s gotta-see list anyway, this story is based on the real-life memoir of Jeannette Walls. Her description of growing up as the daughter a dysfunctional father and mother may catch some audience members by surprise… especially if abusive behavior lurks in their life history.

Scenes of neglect, verbal and physical domestic abuse, a lack of providing protection or the necessities of life, and a moment of sexual abuse punctuate the memories depicted in this story of the Walls family.

Rex (Woody Harrelson), a former Air Force pilot, and Rose Mary (Naomi Watts), an artist of dubious talent, have brought four children into the world. Covering a complete generation of time, a variety of actors play eldest Lori (Sarah Snook/Sadie Sink/Olivia Kate Rice), Jeanette (Brie Larson/Ella Anderson/Chandler Head), son Brian (Josh Caras/Charlie Stowell/Iain Armitage) and youngest sibling Maureen (Brigette Lundy-Paine/Shree Crooks/Eden Grace Redfield).

Deftly edited between her adult life in 1989, as Jeanette works as a gossip columnist for a prestigious New York publication, and her childhood in the Southwestern US, we are introduced to a family descending into crisis. Rex, when he is sober, is an intelligent and creative man. But as he falls further into alcoholism his best full-time “job” is avoiding debt collectors. Like a well-orchestrated fire drill, the wife and kids regularly pack their meager belongings into a rusting vehicle and flee to the next abandoned building.

Seeking shelter anywhere they can find it and bathing the kids at public swimming pools, Rose Mary suggests they move back to West Virginia where Rex’s parents live. Her request implies hope that the cheaper cost of living and some family support will allow them to continue. Rex is reluctant to return to the home of his youth but, after physically assaulting a lifeguard who questioned the harsh method he uses to teach Jeanette to swim, he knows they must leave the area or face questions from police and child services.

The decision to be nearer to Rex’s mom, dad and brother only reveals more skeletons within this family’s closet. Meanwhile, the parallel events unfolding in Jeannette’s present world effectively illustrate how past experiences become the foundation for adult decisions. This comparison leads to the movie’s most valuable message about our capacity to overcome our childhood. The adult Jeannette’s example is particularly persuasive while we watch her consider a marriage relationship with a man (Max Greenfield) who offers financial support, yet appears to have a penchant for drinking and twisting the truth—much like her father.

Stellar performances from this large cast add to this compelling drama. Woody Harrelson portrays with precision a drunk who swings between poetically grand, and cruelly petty. Naomi Watts vacillates between wanting to get as far away from this madman as she can and falling comfortably back into his controlling arms. And the young actors playing the children genuinely portray the anguish of being caught in the middle.

What sets The Glass Castle apart from legions of other films about family dysfunction are the lessons and examples it offers. As the number of years grow since she was dependent on her parents, Jeanette is finally able to remember the better father that was buried beneath the addiction. It’s a moving, albeit somewhat contrived, conclusion that not only leaves Jeanette in a better position to progress in her life, but may have a similar effect on audiences as well.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.