It Happened In Hollywood Last Night: Bryce Dallas Howard and director Jodie Markell with Tennessee Williams' THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND

(Filmmaker Jodie Markell and actress Bryce Dallas Howard, above.)

by Terry Keefe

The American Cinematheque at the Aero Theater hosted a screening on Wednesday evening of THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND, which starred Bryce Dallas Howard (TERMINATOR: SALVATION, SPIDER-MAN 3, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE) and was directed by first-timer Jodie Markell, both of whom were in attendance and participated in a Q&A afterwards.

(Bryce Dallas Howard, above.)

There are many films this season competing for Oscar glory which likely have far bigger marketing budgets than TEARDROP DIAMOND, but Howard deserves strong consideration in the Best Actress race for her work as the troubled Fisher Willow, a complex young woman who might turn into Blanche DuBois 20 years down the road if she continues to make the wrong choices. The film's script was actually written by Tennessee Williams directly for the screen, but was only recently rediscovered. The film is a worthy companion piece to the many screen classics adapted from Williams' work, but also adds a number of stylistic flourishes of note which feel much at home within the southern gothic tone, while updating it somewhat...most notably a brief psychedelic party sequence best described as Tennessee Williams meets EYES WIDE SHUT. Chris Evans also does some nice work as Jimmy Duboyne, the farm hand-turned-party date for Howard's rogue socialite. Ellen Burstyn is terrific as a stroke-debilitated woman who makes a rather serious request of Fisher.

An enjoyable footnote to the evening was that Howard's grandfather Rance Howard was in attendance and gave his proud compliments during the Q&A. Rance Howard has 228 acting credits listed at IMDB.com, along with a number of films in pre-production. Whew!