"Pieces Of A Woman" -- Movie Review

 

This week at The Museum of Modern Art’s Virtual Cinema, I streamed the drama, “Pieces Of A Woman”, starring Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Burstyn. 

Synopsis

When a couple experience a family tragedy, will they be able to hold together their relationship?

Story

In the late summer, Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are a Boston couple anxiously awaiting an addition to their family:  Martha is expecting a daughter any day now.  They have decided to forego the hospital and instead have a home delivery.  When Martha’s water breaks and contractions begin, they call their midwife, Eva (Molly Parker), to come to their home immediately.  Upon her arrival, Eva sees that Martha is having trouble, but the baby initially seems to be doing well.  Further into the process, all of that changes – once Martha gives birth, the baby’s heartbeat is weakened and an ambulance is summoned. 

Tragically, the baby does not survive.  This initiates an increasing series of problems for the couple.  For one thing, Martha’s relationship with those closest to her begin to deteriorate; this includes Sean, her sister and her mother Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn).  Both Martha and Sean are devastated by their loss and frustrated that the doctors cannot give either of them a simple answer as to the exact cause of death for their baby.  This anxiety results in a mutual loss of romantic interest with each other and extramarital relationships ensue. 

Elizabeth, who has plenty of money she isn’t afraid to spend, tries to use that leverage to manipulate her daughter.  After buying Martha a car during her pregnancy, she offers to pay for the baby’s funeral.  Later, Elizabeth uses her financial influence over the couple to get what she wants.  For one thing, she insists Martha take Eva to court in order to get justice.  Also, never a big fan of Sean, Elizabeth offers him a significant amount of money to leave her daughter forever so that she can get on with her life.  Once in court, Martha is called as a witness.  Upon cross-examination, Eva’s lawyer attempts to make Martha the villain in this case.  Will Martha have what it takes to see Eva get punished?   

Review

It seems that “Pieces Of A Woman” is actually pieces of a movie – in fact, pieces of several movies, to be precise.  “Pieces Of A Woman” is at times confusing – and the film itself seems deeply confused.  At times, it appears to be a family drama – which much of the time, is the case.  Occasionally, it seems as though it’s about how a couple overcomes tragedy (or not).  Other times, it hints at being more of a courtroom drama (which to some extent, it is – at least at the end).  It might best be characterized as a film in search of a genre.  Good luck with that.  Despite some solid performances – especially Ellen Burstyn and Vanessa Kirby – the motion picture cannot be elevated above what seems to be a schizophrenic melodrama. 

The filmmakers rely a bit too much on having the audience figure out either what is currently happening in their story or what has happened previously, leaving the viewer a bit confused.  A number of people will tell you that this is done because the filmmakers are treating the audience as intelligent people who don’t need to be told every detail.  An argument to the contrary could be made, however – it is just lazy storytelling.  They didn’t want to write or shoot the scenes that would fill in the gaps.  Either that or they did write and shoot those scenes, but didn’t like the way they turned out so they got excised from the film.    

Any one of the themes that “Pieces Of A Woman” touches on would have made a good movie.  If only the filmmakers had concentrated on only one of those things, the result would be a more focused story and a more rewarding experience for the viewer.  Instead, the filmmakers were overly ambitious and the end result is that their reach exceeded their grasp.  Also, a note about the character of Elizabeth:  As the controlling mother, an attempt is made to make Burstyn’s character the antagonist whom the protagonist must try to defeat by the film’s end.  However, it turns out she becomes nothing but a doting mother who simply wants the best for her daughter.