Delayed Reaction: Mass

Premise: Two couples meet for a discussion years after their sons were involved in a school shooting.

 

I'm a little hesitant to say too much about this movie. Not that there are surprises in the movie. I'm pretty sure this will be sold on the school shooting and all that. But, in this four-hander, part of the fun is figuring out the exact dynamic of all the parents. The basics though are that Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton are a couple who lost their son years before to Ann Dowd and Reed Birney's son. Through their lawyers, they set up a meeting at a random Episcopalian Church so they can have an open discussion. Liability waived. Time and place agreed on. Of the nearly 2-hour movie, most of it is just those four in a room talking. To most people's surprised, this isn't based on a play. It's actually written and directed by Fran Kranz (best known to me as the stoned guy from Cabin in the Woods).

 

This is a heavy movie, which shouldn't be a surprise, given the topic. All four leads are really wonderful in this. They all have their own agendas, but they are all the same in that they just want healing. Plimpton and Isaacs want to know how Dowd and Birney could raise a monster and not realize it. Isaacs wants to solve it like a puzzle. Dowd and Birney want to express their regret without having to hate the son they loved. I don't think the discussion goes in any unexpected directions. It even gets a little too theatric in how the script rotates to give them each their spotlight segment. As I always say though, I'm a big fan of putting a bunch of well-drawn characters in a room and seeing how they bounce off each other. My big problem with a lot of plays adapted into movies is that they end up feeling like a bunch of character monologuing at each other. Mass actually feels like a discussion.

 

A nice touch that really works for the movie is that it opens and closes on Breeda Wool as the administrator in charge of the church as she tries to set up for this meeting. It's all very mundane and awkward. A little funny even. It underlines how unnatural and uncommon this sort of arranged meeting is. No one knows the rules. This also works as a bit of a misdirect for one of the best parts of the movie.

 

I fell just short of loving this movie. I was bother by how structured the conversation felt once it got to the clean rotation between the characters. The story of the school shooting felt a little too clean, for a lack of a better word. Nothing about the shooter was surprising. You could describe him even before seeing the movie. And the son who was the victim barely exists at all. It felt like a missed opportunity.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend