What They Had (2018)

This film breaks no new ground, but manages to be brilliant nevertheless.
Ruth (Blythe Danner) heads out in the middle of the night, with shoes and her purse. She suffers from dementia, so this is a problem.
The majority of the film involves her children trying to convince Ruth's husband and their father, Bert (Robert Forster) to put her in a home that specializes in those with memory loss. But he won't do it; he can't live without her. However, his stubborness is forcing his children to make sacrifices they should never have to make and is keeping them from living their own lives.
Bitty (Hilary Swank, and what a horrid name for her) is unhappily married and working as a chef out in California while Nick (Michael Shannon) is struggling to make ends meet back home in Chicago, his relationship ruined as he has to cater to his parents' every whim.
Sure, there is a bunch of family tension, but as the room is filled with great actors and actresses, the film flies by with life breathed into the performances and lift the at times limp dialogue.
Fortunately, Bert eventually sees the light, signs the necessary paperwork to get Ruth into a facility only to die from another heart attack a few days later. Bitty's estranged husband, Eddie (Josh Lucas, in an underwritten role) doesn't even bother attending the funeral. The moment afterwards where Ruth said that he died at the perfect time, she still remembers him but not so much that she's devastated is a bit far-fetched, but the rest of the film rises above that moment. Ruth refers to Bert as her boyfriend most of the time and thinks that Bitty in her mother.
My main issue (and basically only issue) is that Bert's occupation is never mentioned, just that he served in Korea while it is mentioned that Ruth was an administrator in a nursing home which is one of the reasons why he is so reluctant to place in one. Fortunately, Bitty finds a nice place for Ruth out in California.
While the film is simple, the cinematography and editing is seamless while if there is a score, it is unnoticeable, though the old photographs are great. Fortunately, the performances make this film something worthwhile. Grade: B+