"The Meddler" (2015 release; 100 min.) brings the story of Marnie "The Meddler". As the movie opens, we find her staring at the ceiling fan, as if unsure what to do. We get to know Marnie, widower whose husband passed away a year ago, and Marnie, heartbroken and lonely, has moved from Jersey to LA to be closer to her daughter Lori, who is trying to write and sell TV pilot. Marnie shows up unannounced at Lori's house, and calls Lori constantly, to Lori's frustration. "Maybe you need a hobby", Lori offers. "YOU could be my hobby!", responds Marnie. Then one day, Lori announces she's off to New York, to shoot a pilot, leaving Marnie to watch Lori's dogs. What will become of Marnie, now that Lori is on the East Coast? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director Lorene Scafaria, who a few years back brought us "Seeking a Friend For the End of the World", which I thought was brilliant. Here she brings us a vastly different movie, more about a widower seeking a renewed purpose in life than it is a mother-daughter movie (although it is that too, obviously). If you've seen the movie's trailer, it compiles many if Marnie the Meddler's most 'meddling" moments, and I thought too myself "how are they going to make this into a 90 min film?". Turns out that Lori going off to New York brings the answer, since from that point on the focus changes (and in fact we don't see Lori again for a significant chunk of the movie). And let's state the obvious: Susan Sarandon, who is in virtually every single scene of the movie, absolutely carries this movie on her shoulders. Sarandon, now in her late 60s, seems to embrace the aging part and her performance as Marnie will charm anyone watching this. Two days, two movies, twice Rose Byrne in a top role, what are the chances? Yesterday I saw her in "Neighbor 2: Sorority Rising", and today in this. Between those two, her performance here as the grown-up daughter trying to find her own way is by far the better one, and the on-screen chemistry between Sarandon and Byrne is obvious. J.K. Simmons plays Marnie's possible new romantic interest but his role is completely overshadowed by Sarandon's. Check out also the short appearance of Blues Traveler, performing their hit "Runaround" at a wedding scene (funny side note: when Runaround is over, John Popper announces "this is a new one", and promptly clears, ha!).
"The Meddler" recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati without much any pre-release fanfare or advertising. The Tuesday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (surely the great weather had something to do with that). If you are in the mood for a light-hearted, at times sentimental, but always charming comedy-drama (more comedy than drama) about building a life after your long-time spouse passes, I'd readily recommend you check out "The Meddler", be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from writer-director Lorene Scafaria, who a few years back brought us "Seeking a Friend For the End of the World", which I thought was brilliant. Here she brings us a vastly different movie, more about a widower seeking a renewed purpose in life than it is a mother-daughter movie (although it is that too, obviously). If you've seen the movie's trailer, it compiles many if Marnie the Meddler's most 'meddling" moments, and I thought too myself "how are they going to make this into a 90 min film?". Turns out that Lori going off to New York brings the answer, since from that point on the focus changes (and in fact we don't see Lori again for a significant chunk of the movie). And let's state the obvious: Susan Sarandon, who is in virtually every single scene of the movie, absolutely carries this movie on her shoulders. Sarandon, now in her late 60s, seems to embrace the aging part and her performance as Marnie will charm anyone watching this. Two days, two movies, twice Rose Byrne in a top role, what are the chances? Yesterday I saw her in "Neighbor 2: Sorority Rising", and today in this. Between those two, her performance here as the grown-up daughter trying to find her own way is by far the better one, and the on-screen chemistry between Sarandon and Byrne is obvious. J.K. Simmons plays Marnie's possible new romantic interest but his role is completely overshadowed by Sarandon's. Check out also the short appearance of Blues Traveler, performing their hit "Runaround" at a wedding scene (funny side note: when Runaround is over, John Popper announces "this is a new one", and promptly clears, ha!).
"The Meddler" recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati without much any pre-release fanfare or advertising. The Tuesday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (surely the great weather had something to do with that). If you are in the mood for a light-hearted, at times sentimental, but always charming comedy-drama (more comedy than drama) about building a life after your long-time spouse passes, I'd readily recommend you check out "The Meddler", be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.