Jason Bateman directed this and stars in it, and he's a favorite of mine (his performances are always effortless and understated) and so he was the best part of this goofy movie. Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken also give fine performances but I couldn't buy into the story line of parents who exploit their kids in crazy ways and call it "performance art" and are renowned because of it.
If you can buy the premise, you'll like this film.
The Meddler **
Susan Sarandon is The Meddler, quite the understatement. This is exactly the kind of writing I hate: a character who is so in-your-face, so broadly drawn, so annoying that they're hard to watch. Sarandon looks great, but she's still hard to watch.Here's a woman who attends a baby shower she's not invited to, and later ends up planning and paying for an over-the-top wedding for a lesbian friend of her daughter's, whose last name she doesn't even know. Too stupid for me. Sweet romantic thread with JK Simmons, tho.
I decided, after watching this film, the third or fourth I've seen Greta Gerwig in, that I really don't care for her as an actor. There's something appealing about her looks and her manner but her acting seems very self-conscious, and distracted.
This is a crazy story that could have been called The Controller, or...The Meddler, with weird, not believable happenings.
I saw an advance screening and it seems so rude to walk out on one of those, and besides, I was in the middle of a packed row...otherwise I would have.
Stupid.
Sender *
Four people screaming at each other and repeating lines, again and again and again. Effective device used sparingly, which it's not, in this play. "I'm sorry," was said by one character twelve times in a row. We get it already.
On the plus side there was some male nudity.
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