MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 29, 2023: SHE CAME TO ME
If the idea of Marisa Tomei as a romance-addicted tugboat captain sounds like your cup of tea, then grab the popcorn and settle in for Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me, a quirky, well-acted dramedy about the intersecting lives of two families of New Yorkers and the people in their orbit. By turns heartfelt and slightly absurdist, it’s ultimately the kind of cinematic escape from the real world that we all sometimes need.
Tomei plays Katrina, a rough-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside woman who connects with talented-but-tortured opera composer Steven (Peter Dinklage) while he’s trying to work through his anxiety-driven creative block. Their encounter does the job…but it also sends him into guilt spirals, since he’s married to Patricia (Anne Hathaway), a germaphobic aesthetic who first met Steven when she was his therapist. (He still calls her “Doc” affectionately, which speaks volumes about their dynamic.)
Meanwhile, Patricia’s teenage son from her previous relationship, Julian (Evan Ellison), is in love with Tereza (Harlow Jane), whose domestic worker mom (Joanna Kulig) and court recorder/Civil War reenactor stepdad (Brian d’Arcy James) aren’t thrilled about the idea of Tereza being in a serious relationship. As the characters’ storylines converge — and their eccentricities twist the plot in sometimes-unexpected directions — She Came to Me explores the nature of love, compatibility, vocation, and fulfillment.
And thanks to Miller’s practiced direction, it all looks very good. The New York settings, both interior and exterior, feel authentic; the production design is thoughtful and detailed (you may find yourself wishing for a behind-the-scenes featurette offering a tour of Katrina’s chaotically cozy boat); and the wardrobe choices are well matched to their characters. Top it all off with a talented cast of actors who seem to be enjoying themselves tremendously, and you have an awfully appealing way to spend a couple of hours. — Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Nell Minow: Some movies have a heightened tone. Some have characters that feel authentically complex. Some have storylines that are unexpected combinations of humor, drama, and heart. Writer/director Rebecca Millewr somehow manages the almost impossible challenge of combining all three in She Came to Me, a beautifully performed and directed story that has great charm and unexpected wisdom.
Leslie Combemale She Came to Me isn’t likely to fit in the neat boxes critics prefer and I bet they’ll considered too hipster to be real, but the audacious, bizarre, inconceivable dramedy will prove to be a favorite to quirky indie fans. There’s care and consideration in every aspect of the production, from the awards-heavy cast, to the careful color stories in the production design, to the embarrassment of riches offered up in the score and music. Writer/director Rebecca Miller gives her characters real issues, often to the point of mental illness, and they are issues that build interactions and relationships that offer less clearcut hero/villain scenarios, thereby making them worlds more interesting. She collaborated with her cast in developing their roles, and it shows in the commitment the performers give to their performances. The result is a sort of screwball comedy meets magical realism, with a lot of heart thrown in. Read full review.
Loren King Writer and filmmaker Rebecca Miller’s first film since the too-little-seen Maggie’s Plan starring Greta Gerwig, Julianne Moore and Ethan Hawke in 2015, She Came to Me is a charming fairy tale about finding romance in a magical New York. In her films and works of literature, Miller has always delivered a strong personal voice and characters, particularly women, that are individual, flawed and fully human. Read full review.
Sherin Nicole Shot with operatic storytelling and folkloric styling, She Came to Me magnifies atypical acts of romantic & familial love: the unexpected collision of hearts, star-crossed firsts, and divine devotion are among them. These themes are clear but there are other ingredients that concern me: antagonists left unchecked, mental illness magically healed by codependency, and irresponsible choices seen through a rosy lens. These could be a byproduct of whimsy, but when taken together we may be watching 3-out-of-4 well-defined and individual women serve themselves up to nourish the males. Again, it depends on your tastes—She Came to Me is a sweet bite in many ways, but you might end up asking yourself: What’s in this? Read full review.
Nikki Fowler: She Came to Me is a beautiful story on love and the human spirit and how in all of life’s imperfections and how at times humanity can sometimes fail one other time and time again, there is always that ribbon of pure kindness that finds its way into the hearts of those that seem hopelessly lost and it finds a way to heal, protect and save us from ourselves. Peter Dinklage is a phenomenal actor with complete range to bring this lost opera composer (Stephen) to life in his failing marriage to Patricia played by Anne Hathaway, who killed it by the way in the series ‘We Crashed’ playing a flighty spiritual one part of an investor team couple gone rouge, brings this composers therapist wife’s search for something more to the forefront with emotion and sometimes chaos. Marisa Tomei shines as the hopeless compulsive romantic that turns the couples world upside down as they rethink what the meaning of their life really is. With stellar writing and direction, She Came to Me is endearing and shows that through upheaval and tragedy all you really need is a little bit of love to find your way.
Jennifer Merin She Came to Me is a thoroughly breezy and delightfully quirky romdramcomedy, written and directed by Rebecca Miller and starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway. The story is a wholesomely hearty, surprisingly silly and highly improbably New York fantasy. The characters are gorgeously absurd and irresistibly appealing, The performances are spot on. There’s even a charming dog. Even if the film were not as well-crated as it is, this effective escape from stress arrives just when most of us need relief.
Sandie Angulo Chen: Writer-director Rebecca Miller’s film She Came to Me is a relationship dramedy that explores art, race, class, and love among two interconnected families in New York City. Starring an A-list cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, and Anne Hathaway, the movie is difficult to categorize as a romantic comedy, but it does include two central romantic plot lines as well as tributes to motherly and spiritual love and devotion. Miller coaxes nuanced performances from the leading and supporting actors, and although there are darker themes about mental illness and racism threaded into the script, it’s ultimately a hopeful film about the transformative power of various kinds of love.
Pam Grady: An opera composer’s (Peter Dinklage) one-night stand with an opera loving, romance obsessed, stalkerish tugboat captain (Marisa Tomei) has big ramifications for his marriage to his high-strung, clean freak, nun-obsessed psychiatrist wife (Anne Hathaway). Oh, and the shrink used to be her husband’s doctor. Boundary stomping is the seeming hobby for every adult in Rebecca Miller’s Brooklyn-set tall tale, a habit of overstepping that eventually leads to big trouble for the couple’s 18-year-old son (Evan Ellison) and his 16-year-old girlfriend (Harlow Jane). With the exception of a few scenes between the two kids, there is not a frame of this twee movie that rings remotely like reality and as a fantasy it falls short. With its thoroughbred cast, it’s diverting enough but so wispy that it barely registers.
Liz Whittemore In writer/director Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me, a chance romantic encounter sparks inspiration and spirals the lives of a group of people into chaos. An opera composer, a therapist, a cleaning woman, a stenographer, a tug boat captain, and a high school couple become entangled in the trappings of love. Evan Ellison, Joanna Kulig, Brian D’Arcy James, and Harlow Olivia Calliope Jane give us emotional depth at every turn. Marisa Tomei plays Katrina, a lonely tug boat captain hopelessly in love with love. She’s quirky, genuine, totally dazzling. Anne Hathaway’s type A perfectionist persona is delicious. Her results-oriented mindset and germaphobia are her coping mechanisms. With a hyper-positive facade and schedule-minded routine, she hides childhood trauma. It is a career-best performance for Hathaway. Peter Dinklage plays Stephen as an overtly neurotic, deeply depressed, and wholly indecisive creative. Once again, Dinklage’s ability to put the viewer at ease and simultaneously captivate is unsurpassed. Bryce Dessner’s score, book, and lyrics are whimsical, mischievous, and bold, mirroring Stephen’s eccentricity and real-life inspirations. The film is a collection of complex characters feeding off the human experience. The various relationship dynamics perfectly capture age and stage with a touch of the absurd. Where art imitates life, you’ll be enamored with She Came to Me
Cate Marquis Crazy, wild and delightful describe SHE CAME TO ME, a quirky comedy/romance/drama about a New York-based composer of operas (Peter Dinklage) who struggling with his latest work and his own case of nerves, despite the encouragement by patient therapist wife (Ann Hathaway), until one day when has a strange encounter with a tugboat captain (Marisa Tomei) who has an obsession with romance. There is more – much more – to writer/director Rebecca Miller’s SHE CAME TO ME but saying more risks spoiling this clever, hilarious, creative and finally heartwarming story. But, trust me, these three wonderful actors (and their supporting cast), make magic, laughter, and more from this wildest yarn that somehow makes perfect sense in the end.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: She Came to Me
Director: Rebecca Miller
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Running Time: 102 minutes
Language: English
Screenwriter: Rebecca Miller
Distribution Company: Vertical Entertainment
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Jamie Broadnax, Leslie Combemale, Nikki Fowler, Pam Grady, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
Other Movies Opening This Week
Edited by Jennifer Merin
