Jack and I really liked this story of a prickly woman and her granddaughter searching for cash to fund an abortion in Los Angeles. Lily Tomlin (covered in Admission) is brilliant as Elle, a published poet still reeling from the not-recent death of her long-time partner Violet, and Julia Garner (I didn't recognize her, though we've seen two of her pictures) is good as the pregnant teen. Marcia Gay Harden (last blogged in Whip It) is terrific, as always, as the daughter of one and mother of the other, feared by both.
Nat Wolff (most recently in Palo Alto and was in Admission as well), Sam Elliott (I'll See You in My Dreams), Judy Greer (Men, Women & Children), Laverne Cox (trans woman Sophia on Orange Is the New Black), and Elizabeth Peña (sadly, she died a year ago. Some of my favorites were Lone Star (1996), Tortilla Soup (2001), Transamerica (2005), and Mother and Child) all turn in good cameos. Read this glowing review from Variety after you've seen the movie.
Director/writer Paul Weitz says he had had the idea for the script before working the same duties on Admission with Tomlin but she helped him flesh it out.
The magnificent 1955 Dodge Royal driven by Elle in the movie actually belongs to Tomlin.
Joel P. West composed the dreamy music, which can be streamed on Spotify or purchased on amazon and iTunes.
Jodi, of the Tuesday night movie club, saw it before we did--moving and travel have kept us away from the big screens far too long--and dismissed it as "typical film fest fare not living up to its potential." We and Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 93% heartily disagree (RT audiences average 70%). In fact, we think film festivals tend to provide the best entertainment. Check this out at your neighborhood art house and listen for my new favorite movie line: "I don't have an anger problem, I have an a**hole problem."
Milestone: this is the 800th movie summarized on the blog since September 3, 2008. Sorry I've been too busy to write for a while. Working now to catch up!
No comments:
Post a Comment