Friday, September 29, 2017

The Meddler (2015)

This film wasn't bad; it just wasn't all that good.
Marnie (Susan Sarandon) is a recent, wealthy widow who moves to Los Angeles to be closer to her only child, Lori (Rose Bryne) who is a depressed screenwriter, having recently broken up with her movie star boyfriend, Jacob (Jason Ritter). Apparently, he was pretty mean to Lori but she's still hung up on him nevertheless. I wish we knew why. Also, Jacob had such little screen time, there was nothing spectacular about him whatsoever.
Marnie slowly stops hanging on her daughter's every word, volunteering at the hospital, driving one of the Apple geniuses to his night classes, falling for someone new throughout the course of the film.
This film belongs to Susan Sarandon and she is great. However, there are some problems. The supporting cast is great but they have so little screen time and that's such a shame. She's grieving her husband, struggling to find a purpose in life, but she is doing good and helping others. She might not have her own grandchildren (only granddogs) but she semi-adopts one of her daughter's friend's daughter and is kindly known as Grandma Marnie. And she finally opens herself up to the possibility of a new relationship with the always delightful J.K. Simmons.
That being said, this film broke no new ground and dropped a character abruptly out of the plot, but Marnie realized that he didn't need her anymore and she didn't need him as much as she thought she did. Grade: B

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