Movie Reaction: After the Wedding

Formula: Lion - Slumdog Millionaire

(i.e. just the white people)

There are two ways I can discuss this movie. I can either talk about it or talk around it. Which, I suppose is my way of saying "spoiler alert", not that I would describe this as a movie to be spoiled. I haven't found the proper term for movies like this. There are parts about it that are better to find out within the context of the movie than beforehand. It's not a movie that's trying to pull one over on the audience. But there's no good way to warn people of this without putting them on alert. I hate being coy, but it's kind of required.

Here's what talking around the movie looks like. After the Wedding is about Isabel (Michelle Williams). She runs an orphanage in India but has to fly to New York City to meet a business woman, Theresa (Julianne Moore), who is considering giving millions of dollars to the orphanage. This happens to be on the same weekend as Theresa's daughter's wedding. At the wedding, Isabel realizes she has something in common with Theresa that changes her entire perception of the trip. Isabel must stay in New York City longer than expected to sort this all out.

Williams and Moore are very good. Williams spends most of the movie uncomfortable with her surroundings. There's a recurring bit where she takes off her shoes to go down stairs or walk somewhere quickly. She's not one to suffer uncomfortable shoes just because they look nice. That sums her character up nicely. She's happier in India where she doesn't have to worry about these things. It takes about a minute to realize she's a character running away from something. Moore has the more interesting performance. Theresa is both a successful business woman and a great mother. It's surprisingly rare to find a character in a movie who is believably both. She's demanding. She doesn't suffer fools. It's easy to see how she succeeded in business, and you can tell that she struggles to prevent that from bleeding into her personal life, where she is a loving wife and mother. Her interactions with Williams are often frustrating, because both women are stubborn in different ways. Moore is used to trampling obstacles, and Williams is used to avoiding the drama altogether. The movie also gets good performances from Billy Crudup (Moore's husband) and Abby Quinn (Moore's daughter). It's Moore and Williams' movie though.

The dialogue is very specific throughout. It reminded me of writing poems in creative writing classes. That process was always about cutting. Drop every word from the poem that doesn't have a specific and exact purpose in there. This movie doesn't have a lot of filler conversation. If a conversation isn't going anywhere, it will abruptly cut to the next scene rather than let it play out. Characters don't use 10 words when one or a smile will do. It's skillfully done but it left me a little cold.

And that's about all I can say around the movie. It's good. I liked it well enough. This is the kind of movie that has a big drop off from 'love' to 'like'. Loving it means putting it in my top movies of the year and I connected to it deeply. Liking it, even a lot, means I'll have trouble telling this movie apart from a dozen others in a couple years. 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend

After the Credits

OK, now it's time to talk ABOUT the movie. So, the lack of wordiness I mention. Nowhere is it better than when Isabel realizes that Abby Quinn is her daughter. That's all explained through camera cuts and the look on Williams' face. It's a fine bit of acting, and I loved listening to the occasional gasp in the theater as someone figured it out.

The more background I find out about this film, the more about it makes sense. First of all, this is a remake of a Danish movie except the lead roles in that were men. That explains a lot. Both "the parent who never looked back after giving the child up" and "the cutthroat CEO" are roles someone would normally write for a man. That's boring though. I'm massively in favor of this gender swap. It changes the dynamic in far more engaging ways.

Secondly, I'm sorry to play this game, but I could not figure out the ages anyone was supposed to be in this movie. Julianne Moore is 58. Billy Crudup is 50. Michelle Williams is 38. I think Crudup is playing 44. You can always age Moore down several years. I would guess that Williams is about the right age, perhaps on the younger side. Were Crudup and Williams supposed to be closer in age though? How old was Moore supposed to be? Diane Kruger was originally cast in the Williams role. She's 43. That lines up a little more with Crudup and Moore. I don't know. I guess this is a movie in which I should focus more on the quality of the performances.

I am very glad that the movie didn't try to sell this as one big coincidence. I would've forgiven it as part of my One Big Leap rule, but it would've stretched it. It makes much more sense for a woman as controlling as Moore's character is  to have masterminded it. And I do love that it came from a place of love. Twisted logic, but love nonetheless.