STRANGE BUT TRUE is an interesting example of a film that has an amazing cast, an unusual & intriguing story...and yet doesn't really work.
It's not a spoiler to give you the basic premise on which the entire film rotates, because we're presented it within the first few minutes. Philip (Nick Robinson from LOVE, SIMON) is at home recuperating from a mysterious leg injury. He's been living on his own in NYC, but is at his mother's home in upstate NY to recover. Mom (Amy Ryan) is still angry and grieving and extremely bitter from the death 5 years ago of her older son (who died on prom night). She's so bitter than she drove away her husband (Greg Kinnear), now living with his new girlfriend in Florida. Into this scenario steps the older son's girlfriend Melissa (Margaret Qualley), who is very pregnant, and claims that the child is the long dead son's, because she hasn't been with another man since his death.
It sounds silly and almost like the start of either study of immaculate conception or perhaps something supernatural. But the film keeps things firmly rooted in the "real" world (real is quotes, because the plot takes some pretty crazy turns, all rooted in non-supernatural circumstances, but nearly has outlandish). Everyone seems to have secrets. Kinnear happens to be a fertility doctor...did he have something to do with this pregnancy? What part does an older couple (Brian Cox, Blythe Danner) play; they've taken Melissa in to live with them after mom essentially tossed her out. Is something going on there? What about the younger son? He's got some secrets, it seems.
And at the center of it all is the always terrific Amy Ryan. She's 100% convincing in her anger towards everyone around her and at circumstance. She's never found a place to put her grief and anger, so she lashes out sarcastically at everyone in her circle. She's totally convincing, and this makes it hard to care for her as a character in a fictional film. She's totally off-putting as well, hard to warm up to and ultimately hard to really empathize with. I appreciated her performance; I didn't love it.
The entire movie is interesting but never gripping. Scenes are presented in a way that clearly suggest emotional heft or are meant to be a serious examination of the all-too-short nature of life (and how we can't waste any time living it.) Yet I never felt any really strong connection to any character. And it's this connection (which is missing) that is needed to make the more thriller-like events of the latter portion of the film truly gripping. Instead, I was mildly amused at some of the unlikely plot twists and towards the end, my real feeling about the film was that a lot of solid performers signed up to participate in a film that must have looked great on paper, but somehow fails to truly resonate.
It's a briskly paced film, and that's a good thing. If you're not wrapped up in the characters, you want your plot points to come at a brisk pace, and they do. So STRANGE BUT TRUE is also ODD BUT INTERESTING. I have no regrets in seeing the film, but it also left no real lingering after image or strong emotion.
It's not a spoiler to give you the basic premise on which the entire film rotates, because we're presented it within the first few minutes. Philip (Nick Robinson from LOVE, SIMON) is at home recuperating from a mysterious leg injury. He's been living on his own in NYC, but is at his mother's home in upstate NY to recover. Mom (Amy Ryan) is still angry and grieving and extremely bitter from the death 5 years ago of her older son (who died on prom night). She's so bitter than she drove away her husband (Greg Kinnear), now living with his new girlfriend in Florida. Into this scenario steps the older son's girlfriend Melissa (Margaret Qualley), who is very pregnant, and claims that the child is the long dead son's, because she hasn't been with another man since his death.
It sounds silly and almost like the start of either study of immaculate conception or perhaps something supernatural. But the film keeps things firmly rooted in the "real" world (real is quotes, because the plot takes some pretty crazy turns, all rooted in non-supernatural circumstances, but nearly has outlandish). Everyone seems to have secrets. Kinnear happens to be a fertility doctor...did he have something to do with this pregnancy? What part does an older couple (Brian Cox, Blythe Danner) play; they've taken Melissa in to live with them after mom essentially tossed her out. Is something going on there? What about the younger son? He's got some secrets, it seems.
And at the center of it all is the always terrific Amy Ryan. She's 100% convincing in her anger towards everyone around her and at circumstance. She's never found a place to put her grief and anger, so she lashes out sarcastically at everyone in her circle. She's totally convincing, and this makes it hard to care for her as a character in a fictional film. She's totally off-putting as well, hard to warm up to and ultimately hard to really empathize with. I appreciated her performance; I didn't love it.
The entire movie is interesting but never gripping. Scenes are presented in a way that clearly suggest emotional heft or are meant to be a serious examination of the all-too-short nature of life (and how we can't waste any time living it.) Yet I never felt any really strong connection to any character. And it's this connection (which is missing) that is needed to make the more thriller-like events of the latter portion of the film truly gripping. Instead, I was mildly amused at some of the unlikely plot twists and towards the end, my real feeling about the film was that a lot of solid performers signed up to participate in a film that must have looked great on paper, but somehow fails to truly resonate.
It's a briskly paced film, and that's a good thing. If you're not wrapped up in the characters, you want your plot points to come at a brisk pace, and they do. So STRANGE BUT TRUE is also ODD BUT INTERESTING. I have no regrets in seeing the film, but it also left no real lingering after image or strong emotion.