Why I Saw It: Strong and eclectic cast. Likely to be in the thick of Oscar night.
Cast: This is not a cast I'd've expected to see together. Meryl Streep tops it off. Unsurprisingly, she gives another performance as the family's crazy matriarch that would propel her to "Oscar front runner" if not for the three trophies she already has and a perception that three is enough for now. Julia Roberts plays Streep's oldest daughter. She reminded me why she has an Oscar too. I've see too many Eat, Pray, Loves and Larry Crownes from her lately and this is a nice reminder. Juliet Lewis and Julianne Nicholson nearly match Roberts (Nicholson especially) as the other sisters. Margo Martindale is stellar. Chris Cooper is entertainingly bumbling. Ewan McGreggor is underserved. Dermot Mulroney is sleazy (intentionally). Uh, Abigail Breslin plays a 14 year old. Maybe the character in the play is that age, but Breslin is not believably only 14 years old in this. Maybe that' just me. No, my only casting issue is Bededict Cumberbatch. Perhaps I've seen him as British too often, or maybe his accent is that bad, but I was uncomfortable every second he was on the screen, especially when he spoke. He's normally great. Not for me this time however.
Plot: Basically, it a week or some with a dysfunctional family who all comes together when the patriarch of the family goes missing. Very quickly, you realize that each and every one of them has a completely fucked up life. There's divorces, infidelity, other weird sex stuff, lying, cheating. You name it and someone in that family is going or has gone through it. The movie moves from one set piece and dramatic reveal to the next. The most impressive thing about it is how well it switches between comedy and drama. Within a minute, the audience in my theater went from laughing to completely hushed and it didn't feel forced.
Elephant in the Room: This was originally a play, right? Apparently, the play by the same name is a rather famous one in theater circles and I can see why. There's a lot of meaty parts and pretty dialogue. What works in a play though, is not always what works in a movie (hence adapted screenplay). Too often I felt like I was watching a play and didn't get a feeling like a lot of effort was made to use the differences of cinema to its advantage. One of my pet peeves is when people are painted as being plain, then delivering eloquent speeches. It doesn't ring true to me and this falls victim to that.
To Sum Things Up:
The acting is top notch and it is a funny movie, which I didn't expect. It has a very limited setting and it is hard to buy all of them having such crappy lives that are all as interesting as they are and all coming out in rapid-fire succession. I won't imply that it was bad by any means, but I was hoping for something that was a little more organic and less of a showcase.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment