Rebuilding

                  

Rebuilding- 3.5 stars out of 4

It's been suggested by those who study such things that we have entered into a new "age." With the rise of AI making entire industries obsolete, one can't help but wonder what happens to those who are left behind by this "progress." Entire elections have been decided by emphasizing what happens to the "forgotten man." The wonderful movie Nomadland previously explored this idea as well. What if you were 60 years old and your entire career and even your entire town disappeared. Where would you go? What would you do?

This movie explores similar themes by those affected by natural disasters. With a changing climate making these problems more and more common, this movie focuses on one such man and one such family. What would you do next if you lost everything you owned, including your home?

The man is named Dusty, and he also has a young daughter named Callie-Rose he hasn't seen for a little while. The title of the movie has more than one meaning in this sense. Dusty also has some "rebuilding" to do with Callie-Rose while he also tries to rebuild the rest of his life.

Dusty is the strong, silent type who is used to working hard and being self-reliant. Without wandering too far into my psychologist world here, there are elements of how he expresses himself and responds to things we might refer to as "Alexithymia," A working definition being, "A personality trait making it hard to identify, describe, and process your own emotions, often confusing them with physical sensations (like hunger or tiredness) and focusing externally rather than internally." Although it's clear from his facial expressions and body language that Dusty feels things very deeply, he doesn't always have the words to describe these feelings.

Underneath his daughter's tough exterior, we see that what she really wants is to know her dad a little better. Megan Fahey plays his ex-wife and friend who acts as a kind of translator between the two of them. 

Dusty isn't the only one trying to put his life back together. He lives in a Fema trailer with others who have lost their homes, and at first, he is reluctant to engage with them. He has no choice but to eventually connect with his neighbors, and eventually they form a connection. These are the cards they have been handed, and the least they can do is help each other while they try to figure it out. This is a seed planted at the beginning of the movie that will eventually grow into a much more powerful idea.

Dusty takes work such as holding up a stop sign to try and pass the time. He quietly observes Callie-Rose as they (and everyone else) use the only wifi signal that is available outside the local library. Callie-Rose wants to see the former family ranch, where there really isn't anything left. Dusty tries to provide some history for her and install some hope that one day they can have it all again. Callie's-Rose's intuition is strong here, and she realizes as she touches the burned tress, that this is probably not going to happen.

Like Nomadland, there is a message here that people are more powerful when they band together. Dusty is more of a Lone Wolf type, and this is all a bit new to him. This is the third time the use of the word "rebuilding" becomes relevant. Dusty is learning that the saying "No man is an island," is not simply an empty phrase. He is learning that we do truly need each other in this life, which is a lesson that becomes much more apparent when you've lost it all like these people have. 

The movie ends on both a bittersweet as well as hopeful note. Dusty's got a new plan now, which means he will indeed get to start over, but he will have to do it at a great distance from the daughter he has come to know again.

This movie got me thinking about a concept called ecological succession, something I experienced while working at Yellowstone National Park after the massive wildfires that took out half the park. Essentially this concept explains how when something burns down or is otherwise destroyed, nature replaces it with something even more powerful and useful. 

And that's a metaphor for what happens here as well. Although Dusty has lost all his physical possessions, he emerges as a stronger, kinder, and more trusting person after what he has been through. The movie ends with two tremendous acts of kindness to highlight the points it's been trying to make all along. Amy Madigan (who is wonderful as the grandmother here) gives Dusty a chance to start again (another kind of ecological succession I won't spoil here.) And Dusty is quick to pay it forward and give all the other people he met in his little community a chance to start over again as well. 

This movie does not beat you over the head with these acts of kindness. They unfold slowly and quietly and a little bit at a time, which makes the message more powerful. In a world full of tension, unkindness, political instability, and worries over the future of our planet, there is a hopeful message here. People need people. Certainly not a new message, but done gently and carefully and powerfully here.