Notes from Tribeca 2017, Part 1

Going to a film festival not only affords the cinephile an opportunity to immerse him/herself in new movies often by unknown, first-time filmmakers, as well as the chance to see great foreign films otherwise unavailable. And sometimes, we get to see a screening of a film everyone will (or should) be talking about when it’s released commercially a few weeks or months later. For the last few years I’ve been attending New York’s Tribeca Film Festival for all these reasons.

This year I saw fifteen movies during my week in the Big Apple. Most (not all) were quite good. Some will soon be released, while others (including a couple of the best) are still looking for a distributor and their fate is not known. I want to share my notes about some of these pictures, so you can keep an eye out for them. We’ll do upcoming releases first.

The Lovers (2017), writer/director Azaziel Jacobs’ breakout movie, had its premiere at Tribeca. It’s one of those genre hybrids: a domestic drama/romantic comedy,  starring Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment) and Tracy Letts (August: Osage County) in a story about a middle aged couple, Mary and Michael, whose marriage is coming apart, not so much from conflict as from boredom.  Each has, unbeknownst to the other, taken a lover, each is under pressure from her/his paramour to spill the beans and leave the marriage, and each has reluctantly agreed to make the announcement when their son Joel comes home from college for a weekend visit with his new girlfriend in a couple weeks.  Then, as the fateful weekend approaches, Mary and Michael rediscover - with joy and dismay - a passion for one another. Needless to say, this complicates matters.

Winger and Letts are terrific as the increasingly confused pair. Aiden Gillen and Melora Walters are convincing as the earnest but frustrated new lovers, and Tyler Ross is believable as the annoyingly judgmental Joel, seething with contempt for his stupid parents and their loveless marriage, only to become confused himself when he catches them in the act of being affectionate.

The screenplay, the acting and the pacing are spot on, and The Lovers is, by turns, touching and amusing. The ending is by no means a foregone conclusion.  It is slated for commercial release on Friday May 5.  I don’t know if this will be a slow rollout or everywhere at once.  Keep an eye out; I recommend it.

94 minutes
A-

Take Me (2017) is a comedy directed by the actor Pat Healy, who also stars in the picture along with Taylor Schilling (Orange Is the New Black). It’s about a middle-aged guy named Ray, who’s kind of a cross between a used car salesman, a thug and a likeable nebbish. Ray dreams big though, and he’s got a promising business idea: Kidnapping Solutions LLP.  For a fee, clients hire Ray to abduct them – some with a notion of self-improvement. For example, if you’re an overeater addicted to junk food, Ray can throw you in his van, tie you up, and force feed you whoppers or whatever, until the sight of them makes you ill. Or maybe you just want a thrill? You might enjoy getting kidnapped, spirited off somewhere, handcuffed, gagged and bullied around for an afternoon like a real kidnap victim. Weird to be sure, but why not? That's modern capitalism: something for everyone. In fact, I've read that “simulated abductions”  are a commercially available actual thing! In any event, the concept makes a great premise for comedy.

Ray’s been doing this for a while and thinks he’s rather good at it. But then Anna St. Clair, a, high rolling, good-looking account executive (Schilling) calls him to request something more extended, more elaborate than Ray’s typical run-of-the-mill abduction scenario.  She offers a lot of dough, so Ray goes for it, even though she requires him to violate his usual practices - like the “no slapping” rule.

As Ray, Healy does a great job acting like he knows what he’s doing – although it’s apparent to almost everyone else it’s just an act. When he comes up against the formidable Anna, however, even Ray realizes that he’s in way over his head. Schilling does a fine job balancing on the comic edge of a tough role – sometimes the terrorized victim, other times a manipulative alpha bitch.  

There’s suspense, there’s mystery, but mostly it’s played for laughs. It gets some, too. Although the picture falls short of being great - the twists and turns are a tad too predictable, and the script plays it overly safe and would have benefited from more audacity – it is entertaining throughout. Take Me was financed by Netflix and is due out Friday May 5 in limited theatrical release and streaming on multiple platforms.

83 minutes
B+

  

The Wedding Plan (2016) is a charming and touching Israeli romantic comedy by director Rama Burshtein, whose first film was the beautiful, extraordinarily intimate domestic drama Fill The Void (2012) - which, if you haven’t seen it, should immediately go on your ‘must see’ list.  The Wedding Plan (known elsewhere as Through the Wall) is lighter, a bit more mainstream but also excellent.  It was nominated for nine Israeli Film Academy awards last year (including Best Picture) and won four, including Best Actress and Best Screenplay.

Essentially this is like a ‘marriage plot’ novel in that it concerns a young woman’s need and desire to be wed. The need is social and societal, the desire is personal. I called it a romantic comedy, and it is indeed funny in its own quirky way; but the term ‘romantic’ doesn’t fit quite right and may be misleading. While the story deals with dating, the search for love, and the decision to marry, it’s less about falling in love than about what marriage means to people, most particularly, of course, to our protagonist, the unmarried, thirty-two-year-old Michal, magnificently played by the Israeli actress Noa Koler (aka Noa Kooler).

Michal is an earnest, endearing, warmhearted person, an orthodox Jew in Jerusalem. In her community, being unmarried into your thirties is not only unusual, but it’s quite a social handicap.  With the assistance of a matchmaker, Michal has become engaged to marry Gidi and is happily completing plans for the celebration when he informs her, just four weeks before the big day,  that he does not love her.  So Gidi is out. But Michal decides that, as all the arrangements have been made – the hall, the caterer, the guest list – the wedding date will be preserved; she just needs one more thing: a groom. Being a religious woman of deep faith she believes God will come through for her and supply the right guy. She also admits that after more than ten years of trying, she simply cannot start over from scratch.

Everyone – her family, her friends, the matchmakers – thinks Michal’s idea is crazy; but they’re all pulling for her. And as the movie progresses so are we.

Along with Michal, we meet a progression of potential marriage partners – some comically ludicrous (like the Hasidic guy who would not look at her), others more interesting or hopeful, including the popstar Yos (like an Israeli version of Sting). Some of the meetings are arranged, some are by happenstance. As days and weeks pass, the atmosphere grows increasingly fraught, yet Michal maintains her integrity, if not her composure. She’s not looking for just anyone, it has to be Mr. Right – someone as serious as she is, who shares her religious faith, who will respect her and love her,  and be devoted to family and to having and raising children together. It’s not just a husband she’s seeking, but happiness and fulfillment.

This is a movie not about religion, but about faith. And hope. Still, if it were not for the nuanced, sympathetic, brilliantly charming performance of Noa Koler as Michal, and the picture’s sensitive, deeper than comic script (also by Burshstein), The Wedding Plan might have been a pretty lame movie. But Koler is just fantastic. She’s no fashion plate or supermodel - she is more relatable than that, very appealing, very watchable, very affecting, very human – and accordingly, Michal seems very real.  As she – and we – approach the big day, the question remains – will God provide? Will Michal find the man she deserves?  Well, in this respect it IS a RomCom!

The Wedding Plan (not to be confused with the several Wedding Planner movies) opens in NYC on May 12 and other select cities starting May 19.

110 minutes
A-