This is the second ‘indie’ movie in recent months about parent’s dealing with the death of a young child, and even though each starred an Oscar Winning Actress, both bombed at the Box Office. I’m not saying that this movie is as good as John Cameron-Mitchell’s excellent
‘Rabbit Hole’ (with Nicola Kidman), but even with its flaws it’s still a significantly captivating film that deserves our attention.
Natalie Portman plays Emilia a pert young lawyer who sets her sights on a Senior Partner at her Firm even though she knows he is married. They hit it off, she gets pregnant, so he divorces his successful Doctor wife, and they marry and Emilia becomes a wife and stepmother to William, a nerdy 8 year old. The baby dies after just few days old and Emilia falls apart dragging everyone else in reach down with her.
Her rocky relationship with her stepson seems like a non-starter, the first wife’s hatred turns into paranoia, and so she uses both her husband and her womanizing father as punch bags for her seeming relentless stream of anger. Things only really start to turn around when almost through sheer necessity a genuine bond starts to develop between Emilia and William: and in fact their scenes together are some of best in the whole movie. However, the question is this too late to save the day and all their relationships?
Natalie gives an admirable performance as Emila but is not best served by a script that has her blowing up so often confusing her family with her vitriolic charges and thoughtlessness , which totally loses us too. She seems to then spend so much of the rest of her time having to say she’s sorry. Lisa Kudrow is mesmerizing playing the manic first wife like a brittle caricature who redeems herself at the last minute. Though the actor who gives some real depth to this meandering plot is Charlie Tahan as William: neither cute or precocious, he’s a kid putting on a brave face and not letting on that he is as scared as hell as his world keeps collapsing around him.
There is no big message or statement of morality in this wee movie, it’s just the tale of a family dealing with change, and for the most part is incredibly moving. It is written and directed by Don Roos who earned big kudos with me for ‘The Opposite of Sex’ and ‘Happy Endings’ in particular. This is not his best piece, and it certainly could have benifitted from a tad more clarity, but as the NY Times Review declared, it is a not-bad movie. And I for one, am glad that I got to see it.
★★★★★★★
Click for Trailer
Posted by queerguru at 22:08
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