Female Film Critics 24/375
Months after Guillermo del Toro’s retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, here comes The Bride!, a kinetic yet scattershot story reimagining the creature and his beloved as a 1930s couple on the run, a la Bonnie and Clyde. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal has a lot she wants to say in this messy mashup of monsters, mobsters, and even musicals, but it doesn’t all come through loud and clear.
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If you thought we as a society were over trashing big artistic swings by female artists, reaction to writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! will disabuse you of that notion. Though by no means perfect, the new gothic romance centering on and reimagining Frankenstein’s bride is visually stunning, fearlessly kinetic and inventive, and worth celebrating.
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Frankenstein’s monster is lonely. If he’s going to live, he wants to live life to the fullest…in EVERY way…wink, wink. He needs someone who’s like him in mind and body. Abby someone. Abby Normal. Or in this case, Ida, and he wants her to be his (The) Bride! The Bride is a very meta mash up of monsters, mayhem, murder, molls, massive amounts of makeup, meddling men, and the marvelous mind of Maggie Gyllenhaal which all adds up to maniacal movie magic. .
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Falco teams up with her Nurse Jackie helmer, Brendan Walsh, for this indie film that will resonate strongly with Boomer parents navigating the empty nest. I’ll Be Right There is witty, touching, humorous, chaotic, and most of all spot on. This is a film most viewers can see themselves in whether as an adult child or a parent.
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I’ll Be Right There stars Edie Falco as a beleaguered, middle-aged mom and full-fledged member of the “sandwich generation” — balancing care for her own mother with the needs of her adult children. It’s rich material, and the eminently watchable Falco is surrounded by a terrific cast; what this ensemble needed was a better script. I’ll Be Right There is entertaining enough, but until the third act it lacks depth and veers too often into sitcom territory. Considering how rarely the lives of ordinary middle-aged women are viewed on-screen, it’s a wasted opportunity.
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This month, Elaine May is getting an Oscar! One of Hollywood’s funniest and most talented ladies will, at long last, receive an Honorary Academy Award for her long history of great work in the film industry. In announcing the honor, Academy president David Rubin said, “Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.” Honoring Elaine May’s work and career accomplishments will introduce a new generation to her particular sensibilities, wit, unique perspective and voice.
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