Ellie is a rock journalist who covers Seattle’s thriving indie music scene. She’s been at it a little too long and is getting a tad too old to keep having so many late nights drinking and hooking up with much younger musicians. In fact the story opens with her putting her clothes back on as one of her conquests tells her that her nightly visits to his bed are getting too frequent and must stop.
Things are changing at work too and as the readership of the magazine she works at is rapidly dwindling and it needs to re-launch with a digital edition to survive, the Editor tells her that she must shape up or get out as he cannot carry her any longer. He wants a really exclusive front page piece from her, and what he has in mind is an expose on Matthew Smith a legendary artist she discovered than dated seriously before he vanished abruptly ten years ago.
Elli’s immediate reaction to this is to head straight to a bar for a drink and into the arms of yet another cute guitar player as she has never recovered from her painful split from Smith. In the cold light of next day she knows that writing the article makes sense to save her job and maybe at the same time she can get some real closure on her love affair.
The media always believed that Smith was dead and had actually committed suicide, but suddenly Ellie receives a tip off accompanied with a blurry video showing that he is still alive and making music. Somewhere along the way Charlie an eccentric old flame and now a dot.com billionaire offers to help in the search and decides also that he will make a documentary of the whole investigation.
The two set off in an RV that Charlie had insisted was de-rigour for any serious film crew, but their first road trip turns into a blind alley as the tip is completely bogus. How Ellie tracks down Smith is not as vital as the story she obviously wants to tell about her early experiences when she met and fell in love with him. At the same time Charlie is involved in his own romantic madness when he meets and impulsively marries an animal rights activist. He is later OK with the fact that she is also a hooker, but not so much with the revelation that she is still married to someone else. This sweet and enchanting low-key off-beat comedy is loosely drawn from the experiences of actress-turned-writer Emily Wachtel. It’s directed by a relative newbie filmmaker Megan Griffiths, but the reason it really sizzles on the screen is that it stars the wonderful Toni Colette who fits the part of this world-weary woman who won’t let go, so perfectly. In an inspired piece of casting Thomas Haden Church is a joy as the quirky dilettante Charlie with his very odd dry sense of humor and who had the exact chemistry to gel with Colette’s Ellie. Two supporting ones (and one very surprising brief cameo from Johnny Depp) of note too: Oliver Platt played the pushy editor with a heart of gold, and the wonderful Broadway actress now making a reputation in the movies too, the irrepressible Nina Arianda was Ellie’s bartender friend.
This is one of those quiet under-the-radar movies that you may miss as it probably won’t be promoted heavily, but it is well worth seeking out.
It is currently in some theaters now and also VOD.
★★★★★★★★
