Filed under: Reviews | Tags: 2015, brett haley, i'll see you in my dreams
Director: Brett Haley
Carol Petersen’s (Blythe Danner) husband has been dead for two decades as a result of a tragic plane crash, and since then she has remained single and has been living well after retiring with his insurance. It seems like a decent life, but one that is easily knocked into disarray once a single piece falls out of place. In this instance, it’s the death of her dog. That tragedy springs into motion a series of events wherein Carol struggles to cope with aging and the idea that she feels preoccupied with the past tense, with little going for her now and less to look forward to in the future. Dealing with aging in such a quiet, restrained way is refreshing–Carol could be a character from one of Yasujirō Ozu’s dramas–but things begin to feel hollow as a loose rat becomes a metaphor for the film’s non-issues. Danner is a delight to watch. Her shy, curious eyes suggest a vast, repressed interiority waiting to burst. She wants to live life but has forgotten how to have fun. But the script doesn’t do quite enough to tear her well-calibrated world asunder. The relationship she forges with Sam Elliott is charming due to their chemistry, but it feels like a narrative dead end.
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