Santa Fe Film Festival 2008

When two twin brothers find their dreams dashed of becoming major league baseball players, they return to their home in northern California to regroup and rethink their lives. With Ed Harris, Robert Forster, Brad Dourif.

Susan Holzman
Host, Scene and Heard, AM770 CHQR
"Touching Home" Review:

Last week on Scene and Heard, I interviewed Noah and Logan Miller, twin brother filmmakers whose persistence, determination and a promise they made to their father created an amazing movie called Touching Home.

It's the story of two brothers and their strained relationship with their father who suffers from a gambling addiction and alcoholism. When Clint Winston loses his athletic scholarship and his twin brother Lane Winston is released from the minor leagues, they return home to regroup while putting away money to fulfill their dreams.

Ed Harris plays their father, Charlie Winston, and gives a gripping performance as a man struggling to be a better father and a better person. His addiction to alcohol dictates the course of his relationships.

Touching Home is a powerful and thought provoking movie that takes the audience through moments of joy and laughter to sadness and sorrow. Noah and Logan Miller were outstanding in their roles of Clint and Lane Winston. Their performances were honest and compelling, I found myself completely wrapped up in the characters - when they were frustrated, I felt frustrated with them, when they felt hope, I did too - and what makes the story even more poignant is that the film is autobiographical.

They approach the subject matter from such an authentic place, and show the devastating ripple effect of alchoholism. Yet they have also used humour to cope with their personal struggles and its their sheer determination that made this movie happen. The film is incredibly moving in itself, but it becomes all the more profound when you find out about their lives.

Noah and Logan Miller wrote, directed, produced and acted in this film themselves and it's amazing that this is their first movie.

I can't wait to see what's next for the Miller brothers.

Click herefor the Miller Brothers book about how the movie came to be, EITHER YOU'RE IN OR YOU'RE IN THE WAY (HarperCollins, April '09).