Lightning in a Bottle: Angus MacLachlan on "A Little Prayer" | Interviews | Roger Ebert

"Writer-director Angus MacLachlan's "A Little Prayer" is a quiet domestic drama about an older couple in North Carolina, their troubled adult children, the children's significant others, and their struggles to find peace and happiness despite the mistakes they've made and the distress they've caused others. It received respectful national attention and found a theatrical audience, even though it had little promotional money behind it and features just one cast member who's anything close to a household name (ace character actor David Strathairn)."

"MacLachlan was in theater for a long time, as a director, actor, and writer. His debut screenplay was for 2005's "Junebug," which featured a firecracker performance by then-unknown Amy Adams that earned her a best supporting actress Oscar and launched her toward stardom. "Junebug" was directed by his old friend Phil Morrison, who collaborated with him on the short film "Tater Tomater," based on McLachlan's play "Behold Zebulon," and is currently working on another movie for them to do together."

"As a director, MacLachlan did two other films, "Goodbye to All That," with Paul Schneider and Melanie Lynskey, and Abundant Acreage Available, with Amy Ryan and Terry Kinney, and adapted another of his plays as the prison drama "Stone," directed by John Curran. MacLachlan sat down with RogerEbert.com to talk about his film career, specifically the small-scale triumph of "A Little Prayer." He discussed the inspiration behind his film, which stemmed from his experiences parenting his own daughter,"

A Little Prayer follows an older North Carolina couple, their troubled adult children, and the children's partners as they struggle to find peace and happiness despite past mistakes and the harm they have caused. The film earned respectful national attention and reached theatrical audiences despite limited promotional funding, featuring David Strathairn as its most recognizable cast member. The film screened at EbertFest with an introduction by Chaz Ebert. Angus MacLachlan brings a long theater background as director, actor, and writer, and previously wrote Junebug, which helped launch Amy Adams's career. MacLachlan drew inspiration from parenting his daughter and reflected on parenting adult children.

Read at Roger Ebert