When it comes to movies, timing is everything. In the midst of all the mayhem caused by the current (temporary) tenant of the White House, which sets so many of us here in the US into another round of depression, this is the perfect time to watch a wee, joyous movie like Bookends.  Written by openly gay Noam Ash (The Other Two) , who also stars in this story based on his life, as Nate, who, after a painful breakup from his boyfriend, is forced to leave his sophisticated city life behind and move in with his grandparents in their retirement community in the burbs.

Nate is determined to finally start writing the novel he has been talking about for years, but meanwhile, he struggles to cope with his grandfather’s early-onset dementia. Dealing with this new family dynamic puts a strain on them all, especially as his grandmother is in total denial of her husband’s decline

How the producers managed to snag Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham as Saul, his Holocaust surviving grandfather, and also Caroline Aaron as Miriam, the grandmother is this small indie movie is a mystery (to us), but it ensured that the end result exceeded all our expectations.  

Not only does Nate actually finish the novel, but he also ………no, we shouldn’t give that potentially happy ending away. 9/10