More Summer Movies . . .

The summer of 2015 has been disappointing for movies thus far.  Not only have the pickings been slim, the box office has generally reflected the so-so quality of summer releases.  We have three more movies to add to a growing list -- one hit and two misses.

'Grandma':

Written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz, this film stars Lily Tomlin as Ellie Reid -- Elle -- an irascible lesbian/feminist poet, who guides her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) through one long day's journey to an abortion.

Poster for 'Grandma'.

In the first scene Elle breaks up with Olivia (Judy Greer) after a 4-month affair and then breaks down in tears amid memories of her 38 years with her partner Vi -- which ended with Vi's death sometime prior to the start of the film.  

The next scene begins with Sage's arrival at Elle's front door looking for the $630 that she needs by 5:45pm for an abortion.  

And so begins the odyssey that takes Elle and Sage to a French-drip-coffee shop; a tattoo parlor where Deathy (Laverne Cox) doesn't have the $400 that Elle loaned her; to Sage's boyfriend Cam (Nat Wolff); to the owner (Elizabeth Pena) of a feminist bookstore/coffee house where Olivia is a waitress; to visit an old flame of Elle's (Sam Elliott); and finally, with great trepidation to the 'ogre' Jane (Marcia Gay Harden), Elle's daughter and Sage's mother.  

Jane takes them to an ATM and with cash in hand Elle and Sage are off to the abortion clinic.  After the procedure, Jane takes Sage home.  Elle takes a taxi to Olivia's apartment, meets Olivia's parents, and then walks home alone.

Ms. Tomlin is indelible as Elle -- touching, touchie, bold, sarcastic, funny, tragic, flirty, furious, infuriating.  The rest of the cast are all excellent -- returning Tomlin's volleys and enriching this story of sorrow, redemption and summing-up.  Seeing this movie in our summer of Planned Parenthood de-funding and increasing state restrictions on legal abortion makes me damn mad at our cynical political system -- but it's a wonderful movie.    

'The Diary of a Teenage Girl':

Based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' is written and directed by Marielle Heller and stars Bel Powley with Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgard and Chris Meloni.

Poster for 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl'.

Powley plays Minnie, the 15-year-old diarist of the title, a budding cartoonist obsessed with sex.  She's growing up in 70's San Francisco.  Her divorced mother, Charlotte (Wiig), is self-centered and insecure. Charlotte has a younger boyfriend, Monroe (Skarsgard).

Minnie flirts with Monroe and they start an affair.  Minnie also has a couple of sexual encounters with a boy at her school and she and her friend, Kimmie, pose as prostitutes at a bar.  Minnie records all of these sexual adventures on a tape recorded diary.  Eventually Charlotte discovers the recordings and throws Monroe out, which leads Minnie to run away from home.

The central problem with this movie is that Powley is way too old to play Minnie convincingly.  Wiig gives a wonderfully self-absorbed performance as Charlotte and Skarsgard is remarkably likeable as the easy, sleazy Monroe.  The quality of the film stock is very thin and washed-out which gives the movie a period quality, but also dilutes the effectiveness of Minnie's Peter-Max-style cartoons which should be brightly psychedelic.

'Mistress America':


This comedy was directed by Noah Baumbach from a script by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig who also stars as Brooke, a 30-something New Yorker.  The plot is set in motion when Tracy (Lola Kirke), who has just started her freshman year at Barnard receives a call from her mother telling her that her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke, also lives in New York City and suggests that Tracy and Brooke should be in touch.  Tracy, who wants to be a writer, is having a hard time adjusting to college life -- rejected by boys and the literary club, and uninspired by her classes.  She finally connects with a student and fellow writer, Tony (Matthew Shear), but then learns that he has a possessive girlfriend, Nicolette (Jasmine Cephas Jones).  So in desperation she calls Brooke (Gerwig).

Poster for 'Mistress America' with Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke.

Brooke becomes Tracy's idol -- a glamorous free spirit who seems to know what she wants and how to get it.  Brooke is trying to open a restaurant/beauty salon/art gallery in partnership with a boyfriend (who's never seen).  When the boyfriend breaks up with her, Brooke and Tracy persuade Tony and Nicolette to drive them to Connecticut on a quest to raise money from a former boyfriend, Dylan (Michael Chernus), who's made it big at Goldman Sachs.  Brooke tells Tracy that her best friend, Mamie-Claire (Heather Lind) stole both Dylan and her cats.

The madcap scenes in Dylan and Mamie-Claire's Connecticut house are overflowing with eccentric characters, including two of the most unlikeable female characters in recent cinema -- Nicolette and Mamie-Claire.

Ms. Gerwig as Brooke is a remarkable screen presence filled with vitality and screwball intensity.  Ms. Kirke makes a lovely foil -- a sponge soaking up all of Gerwig's crazy energy.  Unfortunately, the movie jumps around with maddening shifts in mood and a huge lack of continuity (no wonder there's a one- sentence plot summary on wikipedia.com).  Ms. Gerwig and Mr. Baumbach need to find a disciplined editor to bring some coherence to their work. 

'While We're Young' -- Gen-Xers vs. Millennials

We saw 'While We're Young' last Friday afternoon.  The movie -- written, directed, and produced by Noah Baumbach -- stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts.

Banner for 'While We're Young'

Stiller plays Josh, a documentary filmmaker in his mid-40's who has been struggling to complete a sprawling, unfocused film for the last 10 years.  Watts plays his wife, Cornelia, who produces documentaries including those of her father (played by Charles Grodin) but not those of her husband.  Cornelia has had two miscarriages and Josh and Cornelia have given up on having a family.  Their best friends (Maria Dizzia and Adam Horovitz) have just had their first child.

Josh meets a young couple -- Darby and Jamie (Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver) -- at an adult education class he teaches on film making.  Darby makes artisanal ice cream and Jamie is an aspiring documentarian.  Josh and Cornelia start hanging out with Jamie and Darby.  As they begin to absorb the millennial culture of their new young friends they grow more distant from their gen-X friends.  Things turn disastrous when Josh discovers that Jamie is succeeding with his own documentary while Josh continues to flounder with his.

This movie about movie making needs to be a better movie.  'While We're Young' is just a so-so movie.  The plot founders on set pieces -- like the ayahuasca ceremony -- and cute montages that slow its momentum.  The information provided about Josh's documentary is confused and diffuse.  The New York City sites are not well-defined or integrated into the story.  The editing is sometimes abrupt and choppy.  Darby and Jamie as portrayed by Seyfried and Driver are not sufficiently magnetic to justify Josh and Cornelia's fascination with them.  Stiller and Watts are effective as reluctant gen-Xers pining for perpetual youth and Grodin is wonderful as the grouchy boomer -- but good acting does not automatically equal good filmmaking.