3 Backyards

Director Eric Mendelsohn made a big success with his debut feature “Judy Berlin” in 1999. His second film took over 11 years to come to the screen, but the wait has been worth it. Once again, he proves to be the poet-auteur of a particular kind of American melancholy.

His latest reverie focuses on three families living on Long Island, a suburban paradise or hell outside of New York City, over the course of one luminous autumn day. In this wonderfully acted ensemble piece, the paths of an executive (Elias Koteas); a stay-at-home mom (Edie Falco), whose act of kindness for a neighborhood celebrity (Embeth Davidtz) quickly turns into passive-aggressive warfare; and an eight-year-old (Rachel Resheff) crash and collide. Exceptionally acted, Mendelsohn’s portrait of suburbia goes beyond character study to encompass both the beauty and ineffable mystery of a specific place.

The film won the Best Director prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.