Frankie

First Hit: Languid look at a family gathered to process a life-altering event.

During a day in Sintra, Portugal, Francois Cremont, AKA “Frankie” (Isabelle Huppert) has asked family and friends to gather to spend time together. Frankie is a famous actress and tries to keep a low profile while at this famous picturesque town. She walks with her husband, Jimmy (Brendan Gleeson), and a guide who says at one point, there are miracle healing waters in an undisclosed place near the hotel. You can tell by the way she looks, she’s not well.

Frankie’s invited her son Paul (Jeremie Renier) and close friend Irene (Marisa Tomei), hoping to make a love connection between them. However, Irene has brought her boyfriend Gary (Greg Kinnear) as they were both working on a “Star Wars” film in nearby Spain. Gary springs his plans to ask Irene to make their relationship more permanent by moving in together. He gives her a ring as a token of his intentions. Irene hesitates.

The closeness of Irene and Frankie is wonderfully portrayed during their long walk together and then the ride back to the hotel in a small open-air taxi. It’s a sweet and revealing moment.

Gary, sad at being shunned by Irene, runs into Frankie and learns from her that if Irene didn’t come right out and say yes to his proposal that they live together, it’s probably something she doesn’t want to do. Then Gary shifts and asks if Frankie would be interested in a script he’s thinking of turning into a film.

Sylvia and Ian Andoh (Vinette Robinson and Ariyon Bakare) are also at the hotel with their daughter Maya (Sennia Nanua). Sylvia and Ian’s marriage is in trouble, and Sylvia wants to move on. Their discussion at the café was impactful when she learns that he’s suspected her wanting to leave and tells her what his lawyer has stated.

The story has Maya getting away from her frustrated mother that results in a few sweet scenes of Maya taking a trolley to the beach, meeting a boy, and kissing him.

These scenes and more are not integrated very well into the overall theme of the film, which to me, was about Frankie trying to say goodbye.

There was little character development for all the characters, and therefore the audience is left to fill in the vast spaces left by the dialogue about past events.

Huppert is good as Frankie. However, I didn’t really care about her character or her story. Tomei was excellent, and she showed a fantastic range of emotions during her conversations with Gary and Frankie. Renier was strong as the son who was probably not very important to his famous mother, Frankie. Gleeson seemed very miscast and sort of bumbled through this role. I didn’t sense any chemistry between him and Frankie and didn’t see how they could have been married. Robinson was dynamic as a woman who wanted to leave her husband because she didn’t feel like there was anything left for her in her relationship. Bakare was good as Sylvia’s husband, who loved his wife but knew she really wanted to leave. Nanua was terrific as the young girl who went to explore the coastal town and discovered more about herself. Kinnear was well cast as an opportunist. Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias wrote this bland screenplay. The dialogue never really seemed to go anywhere and seem to fall into a state of languishment. Sachs directed this film, and I’m not sure what it is he really wanted to say or express.

Overall: There was little in this film about human nature, but Sintra seems like a beautiful place to visit.

Love is Strange

First Hit:  Outstanding acting, powerful subject, and Love is expressed in this film.

Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) are aging gay men who’ve had an ongoing committed relationship for over 30 years.

They decide the time is right for them to be married. When they do the Catholic School where George works as a music teacher, fires him because it is against a behavior agreement he signed when he was hired although the church knew he was gay and was living with his partner. Ben and George have lots of friends and some family who admire and love them.

When they have to move from their apartment, they move in with separate families. George with two gay policemen, Ben with his nephew and family. These changes create intense scenes of how they have to accommodate and be accommodated by the people who take them in. The stories therein are heartfelt and poignant.

The direction of this film was outstanding in a number of ways:  The scenes were beautifully shot and full of character. Scenes were left to play out in their entirety; a song on a piano, long scenes of dialog or wistfulness, and a music recital.

Lithgow was supremely wonderful. His soft tenderness and dancing eyes brought incredible life and spirit to his character. Molina was simply exquisite. His interaction with both Lithgow and the other characters in the film was divine. Charlie Tahan as the son of the couple Ben stayed with was amazing. He embodied a young boy trying to make sense of the world and to find his place in the family while growing up. Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias wrote a beautiful script that was allowed breathe. Sachs was mostly spot-on in his direction of the script, scenes and characters.

Overall:  This film will stay with me for days in its tenderness and portrayal of a gay couples’ love and struggle to be able to live their love.