“LBJ”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Film Club screening of the new biographical drama, “LBJ”, starring Woody Harrelson and directed by Rob Reiner. 

Synopsis

When Lyndon Baines Johnson unexpectedly finds himself President Of The United States, can he rise to the occasion and display leadership?

Story

As Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Lyndon Johnson (Harrelson) of Texas wielded great power; he could either make sure things got done or guarantee they would hit a dead-end.  After losing the Democratic nomination for President Of The United States to a young and handsome John Kennedy (Jeffrey Donovan) in 1960, it was something of a curiosity as to why Johnson would accept Kennedy’s offer to run on the ticket alongside him.  Since Johnson would be Vice President if Kennedy won, his power and influence would surely evaporate and he would lose his Senate seat.  Yet this seemed like an irresistible opportunity.  

Kennedy won the election by the slimmest of margins and predictably, Johnson got marginalized by the new President and his closest advisors – especially, Kennedy’s younger brother Bobby (Michael Stahl-David), who is now also Attorney General of The United States.  Johnson becomes increasingly frustrated by his irrelevance and decides instead to plan for 1968, thinking he would run for President following Kennedy’s second term (assuming, of course, that he would get re-elected).  However, Johnson knew his chances weren’t great because not that many incumbent Vice Presidents ever got elected. 

Fate intervened on November 22, 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated; Johnson then assumed the position of President, much to the immense consternation of Bobby Kennedy, who of course was also still mourning the loss of his brother.  Instead of proceeding with his own agenda, Johnson decided it would be best to proceed with Kennedy’s policies – the main one being Civil Rights.  The problem, however, would come in the form of resistance from Johnson’s former Senate colleagues – especially the ones from the Southern states.  Would Johnson succumb to their pressure or would he be able to get a Civil Rights Act into law?    

Review

“LBJ” is going to be remembered for one very important reason:  the fact that it is distinctly unmemorable.  For a movie that purports to document a crucial event in American history, it is stunning how lacking it is in substance; you are better off viewing HBO’s “All The Way” starring Bryan Cranston – not only does the HBO flick have a much better script (it was based on a play that also starred Cranston), but Cranston’s portrayal of President Johnson is far superior to that of Harrelson’s.  Cranston made you feel that Lyndon Johnson truly inhabited him whereas Harrelson is relying on a sloppy make-up job and an unconvincing accent (despite the fact that both he and the late president hail from the same state). 

The screenplay is amateurish in both the way it clumsily attempts to convey exposition and also in the confusing manner in which it jumps around chronologically, especially in its early scenes.  Additionally, there seems to be something of an inexplicable attempt to make “LBJ” a hagiography; it tries to portray its subject heroically in large part by making others around him seem much worse – this is especially true when it comes to the way that Bobby Kennedy was played.  Based on the way it comes across in the film, the main reason for the sour relationship between the younger Kennedy and his brother’s Vice President is due to the bad attitude Bobby had towards Johnson. 

Despite being a gifted actor in his own right, Harrelson cannot elevate this script; in fact, as good as he may be, Harrelson may have bit off more than he can chew when picking this role because there was nothing he was going to be able to do to make either himself or the movie look good.  He is unbelievable as Johnson and both this role and this motion picture are beneath him.  Also, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird Johnson is totally wasted here; as the president’s wife, her character is ornamental and one-dimensional.  If the character did not appear at all, she would not have been missed.          

“Wonder Wheel”– Movie Review

On the Closing Night of The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended the World Premiere of Woody Allen’s new drama, “Wonder Wheel”, starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake. 

Synopsis

When a couple’s world is disrupted by the return of his estranged daughter, can they protect her once they learn her life is in danger? 

Story

As a World War II veteran, Mickey (Timberlake) now finds himself living quite the life.  It’s the 1950’s and he works summers as a lifeguard on the beach of Coney Island while trying to earn his Masters Degree at New York University, aspiring to one day be a great writer.  But on the path to that goal, he takes a few detours – one of which being Ginny (Winslet), an unhappily married woman with whom he’s been having an affair.  While Ginny may be grateful to Humpty (Jim Belushi) for marrying her after her ex-husband left her to take care their son, the ugly truth is, she’s not really in love with him.  Honestly, maybe she never was.

Ginny works as a waitress at a restaurant on the Coney Island boardwalk while Humpty operates the carousel on the same boardwalk.  Together, they make a meager living and struggle to get by from one week to another.  It is no puzzle then that neither one of them are at all pleased when Carolina (Juno Temple) arrives at their front door one fine day.  Carolina is Humpty’s adult daughter from a previous marriage; for quite some time now, they have been estranged because she wound up marrying a gangster against Humpty’s wishes and advice.  The last thing this young woman wanted to do at this point is to ask her father for help, but that’s exactly what made her walk back into his life.

While living as a gangster’s spouse initially seemed exciting, the glamor has since worn off.  When her husband got in trouble with the law, Carolina saved herself from jail by sharing with the FBI much of what she knew.  But that’s only endangered her further because the men from her husband’s gang now want to murder her before she spills yet more beans.  Against Ginny’s wishes, Humpty allows Carolina to hide out with them; Carolina inevitably winds up meeting Mickey and they start dating, although she does not know about Ginny having her own fling with him.  Once Ginny discovers that Carolina and Mickey are dating, she is overwhelmed with jealousy.  It doesn’t take long for the gangsters to locate Carolina – but once Ginny learns that Carolina’s life is in peril, will she try to save her life or will her jealousy get the best of her?   

Review

“Wonder Wheel” is a beautiful movie to look at, but it may be less pleasant to watch.  Yes, on the surface, this may sound contradictory if not confusing, but nonetheless accurate.  While Woody Allen takes a credit as writer and director of this film, make no mistake about it – this largely belongs to cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who worked with Allen on his previous motion picture “Café Society” as well as his next one, currently in production and as yet untitled.  In “Wonder Wheel”, Storaro has created a masterpiece that is award-worthy; it is more his picture than Allen’s due to its sheer visual beauty. 

It is painful to admit, but creatively speaking, Woody Allen has been drilling a dry hole anxiously awaiting his next gusher; this has been ongoing for quite some time now.  At this point, he might be better off focusing on being a playwright, especially since much of “Wonder Wheel” feels that it was conceived as such; a great deal of the dramatic action takes place statically, on the set of the couple’s apartment.  Not only that, but Allen’s obsessions with great playwrights like Tennessee Williams (especially “Streetcar Named Desire”) and Eugene O'Neill (most notably, “The Iceman Cometh”) are excruciatingly blatant. 

The above plaudits for Storaro are in no way meant to trivialize the performances.  Winslet is excellent and there is talk that she may receive award nominations for her portrayal of Ginny.  Belushi is also quite good but Timberlake is not believable in this role – perhaps he agreed, based on the stiff manner in which he delivered his lines.  Of special mention, however, is Juno Temple; her performance in “One Percent More Humid” made her someone worth watching and Carolina may prove to be her breakout role.  But the masterful way in which Storaro treats things which we normally take for granted such as light, shadows and rain are truly stunning.

“Ismael’s Ghosts”– Movie Review

On the final weekend of The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended a screening of the new drama, “Ismael’s Ghosts” directed by Arnaud Desplechin and starring Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg. 

Synopsis

When a filmmaker is visited by the wife he believed dead, how will this impact both his work and his relationship with his girlfriend?

Story

Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) is working furiously to complete his screenplay but is dogged by his former father-in-law Henri (László Szabó), who’s still obsessing over his daughter Carlotta.  She was married to Ismael but suddenly disappeared; when they never heard from her and the police failed to recover a body, Ismael and Henri had no choice but to have a court declare her as legally dead after a period of years.  While Ismael has made an attempt to move on with his life with Sylvia (Gainsbourg), his girlfriend of the past couple of years, Henri is having much more difficulty doing so.

While at Ismael’s beach house, Sylvia is enjoying the idyllic serenity while Ismael largely spends his time indoors working.  One day, Sylvia is approached by a woman (Cotillard) who claims to be Carlotta, Ismael’s wife.  Startled, Sylvia seems convinced, so she takes the woman to see Ismael, who is similarly taken aback.  With no place to stay, they invite Carlotta to stay at the house.  Soon, tensions erupt; Ismael is furious at Carlotta both for leaving and returning – she has not only ruined his life once, but twice.  Sylvia is also understandably upset; with Carlotta back in the picture, she fears that the once-missing wife will now try to reclaim what she feels is her rightful place.

Unable to take it any longer, Sylvia leaves, deciding to instead completely throw herself into her work as an astrophysicist in order to forget the terrible experience she was forced to endure.  With Sylvia out of the way, Carlotta seizes this opportunity to get Ismael back.  In his mind, Carlotta is no more; he no longer considers her his wife.  He returns to Paris to work on his film, advising Carlotta to mend fences with Henri.  But with all of this turbulence in his life, Ismael can’t concentrate on his film.  When his producer discovers the problem is that Ismael misses Sylvia, can he somehow find a way to reconcile them so that Ismael can finish the film?      

Review

Some French films are more French than others and “Ismael’s Ghosts” is very French – but it also feels very Hitchcockian as well in some ways.  The mystery behind why Carlotta left and why she returned gets solved assuming you believe her explanations – as an audience, we are forced to take them at face value because there’s no evidence otherwise.  Whether or not you buy into the reasons is almost irrelevant because the story seems more concerned about how well or badly an artist deals with diversions resulting from tumultuous experiences in his life while he tries desperately to focus on creating his work.  

One criticism is that the movie feels as though it derails a bit early in the third act, after Sylvia leaves and Ismael returns to Paris.  Viewing this portion of “Ismael’s Ghosts”, one gets the sense as though both Ismael and the motion picture itself have gone rather insane because both appear scattered all over the place and the film seems to lose its narrative thread.  It takes quite some time before the picture appears to get back on track again.  Thankfully, once the character and the work itself return to its senses, it wraps up with a very endearing and satisfying resolution that ultimately rewards the audience after an unsettling experience. 

Following the screening, there was a question and answer session with Desplechin and Mathieu Amalric.  For Desplechin, “Ismael’s Ghosts” is a story about people’s last chances in life.  He further concedes that this is something of a roman à clef  in the sense that a part of him really does want to get out of the filmmaking profession at some point.  Desplechin says he made very deliberate choices in terms of the music used in “Ismael’s Ghosts”; the music changes stylistically depending on whose story is being told at any given moment.  (Particularly amusing was Cotillard’s character dancing to an old Bob Dylan recording)    

“Lady Bird”– Movie Review

This past weekend at The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended a screening of the new comedy “Lady Bird”, written and directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan.

Synopsis

Facing high school graduation, can a young woman resolve the conflicts with her mother before going off to college?

Story

In the Spring of 2002, the hideous memories of the events from September 11th of the previous year are still fresh in everyone’s mind – even for those who live 3,000 miles away in Sacramento, California.  That includes Christine (Ronan) and her parents (Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts), a working class family who struggle to scrape by month to month; Christine’s father Larry works as a computer programmer and her mother Marion is a nurse. While Larry and Marion focus on paying their family’s bills, Christine – who prefers to be called Lady Bird – is consumed with her future, which she hopes will be as an actress on the Broadway stage in New York City. 

Until that day comes, however, Lady Bird will do what your average high school senior in her situation would do – spend time with her friends, date young men and maybe even appear in a school play or two.  As far as her romantic life is concerned, she is a very sexually inexperienced girl; nothing would please Lady Bird more than to lose her virginity before starting college, but it would have to be with the right person.  Lady Bird believes that she has found just that young man in the form of Danny (Lucas Hedges), a fellow actor in one of her school plays – but after dating for a while, she suddenly learns that Danny is gay, so her hopes are dashed (for now, anyway). 

In the meantime, Lady Bird has her hands full at home.  It seems that she and Marion are always engaged in one long continuous fight.  Is one of them envious of the other or do they feel as though they are in competition with each other?  Both could be true.  Complicating matters is the fact that Lady Bird has made it known that the colleges to which she has applied are all out of town – mostly in the east and especially in New York.  This only serves to further upset Marion, partly because she knows deep down that she would miss her daughter, partly because she fears for her safety in New York and partly because of the expense – which becomes of particular concern when Larry loses his job.  As the two battle up to the bitter end, will Lady Bird be able to patch up things with her mother before leaving for college?

Review

With “Lady Bird”, Greta Gerwig makes her directorial debut – and she’s off to a fine start.  This is a good first step for a woman who is clearly (and unsurprisingly) multi-talented.  “Lady Bird” is a safe choice for a rookie director in that it is short, comedic and semi-autobiographical; Gerwig was smart to not try to be overly ambitious her first time out.  Perhaps later in her development as a director, she will attempt something a bit more challenging.  But for now, she has made some good shot choices and served both her cast and script well.  Whatever she does next should be a real doozy.   

Saoirse Ronan is playing a vastly different character than she did in “Brooklyn”, which appeared at this festival two years ago – but a character that is nonetheless just as charming and adorable.  The difference here is that her Christine is also bratty and self-centered.  At 23, Ronan’s youthful looks allow her the opportunity to  get away with playing a 17 year old girl, but she makes it believable. Ronan and Gerwig are both making the most of their opportunities and their talent, so it is especially exciting to see these two women team up on a movie.      

Following the screening, there was a question and answer session with Gerwig and some of the cast.  Originally, Gerwig wrote this screenplay back in 2013; the first draft wound up something like 300 pages in length.  When Gerwig picked it up again, she was able to substantially pare it down.  The original title was “Mothers & Daughters”, which makes sense, since Gerwig characterizes this as a mother-daughter love story.  As a director, Gerwig says that she tries to keep a “magic bubble” around the actors, allowing them to be independent without a feeling that they constantly have to check-in with the director regarding their acting choices.    

“Let the Sunshine In”– Movie Review

This past weekend, I attended a screening at The 55th New York Film Festival for the North American Premiere of the new comedy, “Let The Sunshine In” (AKA, “Bright Sunshine In” or its original French title, “Un beau soleil intérieur”), directed by Claire Denis and starring Juliette Binoche.  

Synopsis

Can a middle-aged divorced mother find true love despite all of the unworthy men she encounters?

Story

Following her divorce, Isabelle (Binoche) finds that without being in a romantic entanglement with a man is an empty existence indeed.  In order to fix this, she starts sleeping with a number of men in the hope that one of them frogs will emerge as her prince if she kisses them enough.  Unfortunately for Isabelle, each one of these men are profoundly imperfect.  Some are married, some are emotionally distant and others are far too involved in their career to be capable of giving love to another person.  None of this prevents Isabelle from repeatedly bedding them, however.   

This does not get in the way of Isabelle either caring for her daughter or negatively impacting her work as an artist; she shares custody of her daughter with her ex-husband (with whom she occasionally has a bit of a fling) and her internal conflict seems to prove an inspiration for her work.  Nevertheless, she still sees a man who steadfastly refuses to leave his wife (Xavier Beauvois) and a self-absorbed actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who is also cheating on his spouse among sundry others who give the impression that they are equally unworthy of this woman’s charms. 

Finally, and in an act of total desperation, Isabelle decides to start seeing a fortune teller (Gérard Depardieu).  Unknown to Isabelle, this man has recently ended a relationship of his own and suddenly finds himself single, but now with a most attractive woman as a client.  When Isabelle informs him of her predicament, he may be seeing it as an opportunity for himself.  Revealing the potential future she may have with various men, he describes them in most unflattering ways.  Is he trying to seduce Isabelle or is she trying to seduce him?

Review

In 1818, poet John Keats wrote “Endymion”, which begins with the line, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever".  Keats could have been talking about either Claire Denis’ “Let The Sunshine In” or its star, Juliette Binoche.  Both are things of beauty and a joy forever – although, perhaps for different reasons.  Binoche has never been sexier or funnier than she is as Isabelle and Denis’ light touch makes you feel as though you’re savoring the most exquisite soufflé that’s ever crossed your palate. The director’s passion for this work is only exceeded by Isabelle’s passion for life’s sensual delights.    

Both the movie and Binoche’s portrayal of Isabelle are deliciously sexy and naughty.  “Let The Sunshine In” and Binoche’s performance will leave you almost feeling deliriously intoxicated.  Binoche’s character is sexually ferocious without crossing the line into nymphomania.  While funny, there’s also a touch of sadness to it because ultimately, this woman is unhappy as she is unable to feel and reciprocate true love.  It’s less about sex than a deeper connection; this is an insanely beautiful woman, so she obviously has no problem getting sex whenever she wants  You root for her but you see her as deeply flawed in certain ways, which may have much to do with her inability to find love. 

To say that “Let The Sunshine In” is a romantic comedy would trivialize it a bit; it’s more accurate to characterize it as an updated Fench bedroom farce, but what makes it all the more refreshing is that it is from a strictly distaff perspective (not only is there a female star, but it also was directed by a woman, who collaborated on the screenplay with yet another woman).  This likely also keeps the movie from being tawdry but gritty enough to keep it from being twee.

“Let The Sunshine In” seems to be saying that we are never truly satisfied in our romantic relationships because no one can ever live up to our unrealistically high expectations of them.   Isabelle appears to be a manipulator just as much as she is manipulated herself by the men with whom she associates.  She is in love with the concept of love but not necessarily so fond of long-term commitment.  Perhaps she is the victim of her own artistic quirks. 

This movie is truly a gem and a must-see.  An extremely minor criticism is that its end titles are a bit distracting because they start rolling before the film is over – as a result, if you’re watching a subtitled version (as was this screening), it’s hard to keep up with the dialog while reading the credits.   

“Wonderstruck”– Movie Review

At the midpoint of The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended The Centerpiece Screening of the new drama by Todd Haynes, “Wonderstruck”, starring Julianne Moore. 

Synopsis

When a Midwestern boy journeys to New York City to find his father, how will a similar quest by a little girl a half-century earlier wind up helping him?

Story

In 1977, Ben (Oakes Fegley) turned 12 years old; he resents his mother (Michelle Williams) because she’s very tight-lipped about his background – he’s never met his father and she won’t tell Ben the man’s name, where he lives or why he’s not around.  Shortly thereafter, Ben finds himself all alone in the world when his mother perishes from a car accident.  Snooping around his late mother’s bedroom, he finds something in her dresser drawer:  an old book that bears the title “Wonderstruck”.  Flipping the pages, he discovers a bookmark that appears to have the name of the bookstore where it may have been purchased, along with its Manhattan address and telephone number.   

Excited by this revelation, Ben decides to call the number on the bookmark – as it turns out, a fateful choice.  Just as Ben goes on the phone, a violent storm is erupts; a bolt of lightning strikes a telephone pole and the electrical charge travels down the wire and into the phone, hitting Ben and rendering him unconscious.  Later, he awakens in the hospital to learn that he is now deaf.  Undaunted by this setback, Ben flees the hospital and takes both the book and bookmark onto a bus from his home in Gunflint, Minnesota to New York City where he proceeds to try to find the bookstore. 

Fifty years prior, a little girl the same age as Ben had a similar experience.  Growing up  in Hoboken, New Jersey, Rose (Millicent Simmonds) is facing many hardships, not the least of which being that she is deaf like Ben – but unlike him, she was born that way.  Feeling lonely without her parents around, Rose runs off by herself to New York City to see if she can find her mother Lillian (Moore), a famous actress now starring in a play on Broadway.  But destiny takes over and Ben soon learns that Rose’s search magically converges with his own, although separated by decades.  Will Ben be able to unlock the mystery behind this girl and finally find his father?     

Review

Whether or not you will in fact find yourself wonderstruck by “Wonderstruck” may largely depend on some factors, such as to what degree you may be able to suspend your disbelief and also to what extent you are able to follow the story.  For many years now, Todd Haynes has reminded us what an incredibly gifted filmmaker he is (at this festival two years ago, his “Carol” was shown).  “Wonderstruck” has a somewhat complicated narrative, in some ways better suited to the popular novel on which it was based (author Brian Selznick also wrote the adaptation for the screen); making it into a film is an ambitious undertaking. 

With respect to the suspension of disbelief, there is a strong argument to be made that “Wonderstruck” is something of a fable; perhaps it’s better to regard it as being closer to a fairy tale than a serious drama based in some semblance of reality.  Looking at it in this fashion, one may be more forgiving when it comes to certain contrivances in the story.  As far as following the story is concerned, that may be another matter altogether.  Interestingly, the problem does not come so much with the intercutting between 1927 and 1977 scenes as it does with the clarity within each story’s individual narrative.  Curiously, Haynes shot the 1927 scenes in black and white and without sound, as if it was a silent film of that era.  

Is “Wonderstruck” for adults or children or both?  Some of the above observations may be considered caviling because this is not a bad film; it’s generally quite good, but not without some obvious flaws.  The argument in favor of seeing this movie would be that it is a good conversation starter; exactly what that conversation would be might depend on the the other party.  If you have a friend or family member (either child or adult) who is hearing impaired, “Wonderstruck” takes you into their world and it might be of use to get their reaction (the screening on this evening was open caption, so no special devices were needed to read the on-screen subtitles).  On the other hand, this might be a good motion picture for a child to see; its underlying message is about the value of family and how we better understand ourselves when we understand our parents.        

“Spielberg”– Movie Review

This week at The 55th New York Film Festival, I caught the World Premiere of the new documentary, “Spielberg”.

Synopsis

A documentary that analyzes how the legendary director’s personal life influenced his professional work. 

Story

As a child, Steven Spielberg was something of a loner.  Growing up in Arizona, he didn’t have many friends.  He did, however, have an astounding ability to internalize exactly what made a good movie from the standpoint of visual storytelling as well as the ability to execute that that in the films he would make in his youth.  Exactly how he figured out how to do this isn’t clear – it can only be explained that it is simply a part of what makes the man a genius filmmaker.  While these movies might look primitive on the surface, considering that a boy who was yet to take his first filmmaking class figured out how to simulate special effects is something of a marvel. 

Spielberg grew up with two sisters, who wound up appearing in some of his childhood films, albeit not always voluntarily.  What he tried to do in his movies then was not only to scare his sisters but also scare himself as well; he grew up feeling always afraid as a kid as he was extensively bullied in school.  Even the filmmaker admits that he never went into therapy precisely because filmmaking was his therapy – he worked out all of his personal demons by making a movie about them.  This explains why he would multitask, editing one film while reading a script for his next. 

In the end, Spielberg remains completely unapologetic about the brazen sentimentality in his films.  If the critics say his movies lack certain artistic qualities and that his work is not intellectual enough, let them.  All he cares about is telling a great story in a compelling fashion.  As a teenager, Spielberg saw “Lawrence Of Arabia” in a theater where it was shown in 70mm; he felt that the film was so majestic, he should abandon his dream of becoming a filmmaker because he would never be able to do anything as good as – much less better than – that movie.  But subsequent viewings of the film turned him around – the motion picture became his greatest inspiration.   

Review

At two and a half hours in length, “Spielberg” is nearly twice as long as most documentaries.  This might be explained by the fact that its subject has a rather long career with an extensive body of work and that he has also had a significant impact on our popular culture internationally, but especially in America.  That might explain it, but it’s no justification.  In terms of informational nutrition, this documentary is filled with nothing but empty calories because there’s not much new or revelatory information in its content; while the director himself is worthy of a documentary, the documentary is not worthy of its length.   

It is your typical documentary, filled with talking heads (including Spielberg himself as well as the cast and crew who’ve worked with him over the years), padded with clips from his films and occasional excerpts from home movies.  If you are a casual movie fan or a casual fan of Spielberg, you might find some of the information interesting but if you have read or seen interviews of him over the years, there’s nothing new here.  On the other hand, only a hardcore Spielberg aficionado or movie buff, then you might find the length less objectionable because it apparently is attempting a deep dive. 

One thing that’s somewhat puzzling about this documentary is the omission of the fact that Spielberg had Jerry Lewis as a filmmaking teacher at The University of Southern California.  Why was Jerry Lewis not interviewed for this film?  Was he asked and he declined?  If so, that would have been interesting to include in the story.  Was he never asked in the first place?  Why was Spielberg not asked about Jerry Lewis in the final form of this documentary?  This was a reasonably well-known fact (among some of the others in the motion picture) and sadly, its absence is the only thing remarkable about this documentary. 

“The Meyerowitz Stories” – Movie Review

On the first weekend of The 55th New York Film Festival, I attended the North American Premiere of the new Noah Baumbach comedy-drama, “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)”, starring Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Dustin Hoffman.

Synopsis

As an elderly father nears his final days, will he be able to resolve issues with his adult children – and can they resolve the issues they have with each other? 

Story

In his prime, Harold Meyerowitz (Hoffman) was once considered an influential sculptor by critics, colleagues and his students alike.  He does not share their opinion of him; focusing on his career, he was not very successful in his personal life.  Harold has married several times with adult offspring from different wives – Danny (Sandler), Matt (Stiller) and Jean (Elizabeth Marvel).  His current wife, Maureen (Emma Thompson), is a bit eccentric, to put it mildly; although she provides Harold with companionship, she’s struggling to stay sober as she feels like something of an outsider in this family. 

Making Harold feeling even more distraught is the fact that one of his contemporaries, L.J. Shapiro (Judd Hirsch), has his own career resurrected when he’s suddenly finding great fame late in life.  Harold attends a showing of Shapiro’s work at a gallery and becomes so resentful, he abruptly leaves, envious and embarrassed.  Meanwhile, he is forced to deal with Danny’s issues; separated from his wife, Danny’s seeing his daughter Eliza (Grace Van Patten) off to college.  A failed musician, Danny is struggling to get by financially and Eliza’s college is yet another burden.

Visiting from California, Matt, a financial advisor, tries to convince Harold to sell his home and move into a less expensive place.  Matt’s half-brother Danny objects because he wants his father to spend his remaining time in a familiar space.  This causes the resentment the half-brothers harbored for decades to come to the forefront.  Sharing a father but coming from different mothers, they felt that they had to compete for Harold’s love and attention.  While the debate over selling the house rages on, Harold is hospitalized due to a brain injury he incurred after a fall.  Not knowing whether or not Harold will pull through, will his three children be able to resolve their outstanding issues with their father?  For that matter, can they put their own differences aside as well?

Review

Baumbach’s latest explores a considerable amount of familiar territory; this is probably good news for his fans and perhaps something of a disappointment for those who are less enthusiastic when it comes to this filmmaker’s body of work.  Not that revisiting themes we’re accustomed to seeing from a director is necessarily a bad thing – as long as it’s done well, at at any rate.  Familial conflict has typically been Baumbach’s métier, so he cannot be blamed for returning to the well, especially if that’s what drives him creatively.  For those familiar with his earlier work, “The Meyerowitz Stories” almost could be considered a sequel to “The Squid And The Whale”.  However, despite the series of interesting tales, its ending is something of a letdown. 

Where “The Meyerowitz Stories” diverges from “The Squid And The Whale” is with its underlying theme on the nature of success.  Success, the movie seems to say, is both personal and subjective; what determines defining something as a success will vary individually, depending on context – it’s all relative.  Harold, despite how others view him, feels he has been unsuccessful.  Danny never followed through on his musical studies, so he believes himself to be a failure.  Matt didn’t pursue a career in the arts, so regardless of his income, thinks he is not a success in his father’s eyes.     

What makes “The Meyerowitz Stories” worth seeing is its stellar cast; this is truly a remarkable ensemble performance all around – and yes, that even includes Adam Sandler.  But while the story centers on the sibling rivalry between Sandler’s character and Stiller’s, the performance worth viewing is that of Dustin Hoffman; his nuanced portrayal as the father shows he’s still got plenty in the tank.  He plays an artist who never really understood how aloof he was with his wives or children and lacks the introspection to acknowledge his behavior.

Following the screening was a question and answer session with the cast, writer/director and composer Randy Newman, who wrote the soundtrack.  Perhaps the most incisive and salient observations about “The Meyerowitz Stories” were made by Hoffman himself, who noted that while the film is heavily stylized, it is so subtle that it can be easy to miss.  He found the pacing of the movie noteworthy given the fact that it clocks in at under two hours although the script was 170 pages.  Another good comment he made was about Newman’s soundtrack; the music is that of Newman solo on the piano, giving a sad and lonely sound appropriate to the characters in the movie.