Review of The Meddler (2016) by Glenn G — 29 Apr 2016

HOW SUSAN GOT HER GROVE BACK - My Review of THE MEDDLER (2 Stars).

I know what you're thinking. What in the hell is up with that hopelessly terrible poster for THE MEDDLER? #amiright? The answer is easy: It's accurately reflecting the movie it's selling. Writer-director Lorene Scafaria, who previously unleashed the fairly awful SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD on an unsuspecting, uninterested public, clearly has turned to a more autobiographical approach with this story of an intrusive mother who insinuates herself into her daughter's life and the lives of everyone she ever meets. Unfortunately, despite some terrific performances, it suffers from an endlessly rambling structure and lacks a real sense of purpose.

Susan Sarandon plays Marnie, a recent widow who moves from the east coast to LA to be closer to her screenwriter daughter Lori (Rose Byrne). Get it? Lorene? Lori? Almost ripped right from her diary! More specifically, Marnie moves across the street from the Grove, an outdoor shopping center in the heart of the Fairfax district which represents crass commercial tourist traps at their most insipid. Lonely and apparently blessed with a Brinks truck filled with cash, Marnie gets way too involved in the lives of an Apple salesman, Lori's lesbian friend, and Lori herself, who tries every which way she can to push her mother away. She even runs away to New York at one point to shoot a TV pilot, yet it plays as an attempt to escape her mom.

Trouble is, as Sarandon plays her, Marnie isn't that bad. She's a loving, caring woman who helps a lot of people who celebrate her in return. I guess it's harder to sell a movie called THE NICE WOMAN, but that's really what's at stake here. She neither nags so incessantly that she has to be put in her place nor does she really learn any lessons. Sure, she could benefit from a few less texts and voicemails, but isn't having a loving mom a first world problem?

Through her madcap (!) adventures of giving free rides and paying for weddings, she meets a retired cop who works on movie sets. As played by J.K. Simmons as if subbing for Sam Elliot, he provides a whiff of romance, thus checking off the loneliness box to give Marnie the wonderful life she clearly deserves.

Scafaria thankfully brings some interesting psychology into the mix by exploring Lori's misgivings about her mom, and Byrne, who excels at comedy (SPY, NEIGHBORS, BRIDESMAIDS), beautifully mines the depths of her troubled character. Sarandon also shines with her singsongy New York accent put to good use in what amounts to a series of voicemail monologues throughout the film. She gives an unfussy rich performance that ranks among her very best, yet it's not enough to stop looking at your watch. "Blessed" with perhaps 6 too many endings, only one of them works, and like the best of the film, it's done in a simple, lovely phone call. Scafaria could have jettisoned the jail time, the visit with a family, the return to the Genius bar, and on and on!

This film attracted quite a cast, including Cecily Strong, Casey Wilson, Lucy Punch, Michael McKean, Jason Ritter, Amy Landecker, and Billy Magnussen, and yet stranded them with almost nothing to do. Sure, I'd sign on to just to be in a film with Sarandon, but I wonder if anyone has ANY notes! If I were Cecily Strong, for example, I would have said, "Hey, like I'm really funny on SNL, so do you think we can spitball one single solitary funny moment here to justify constantly cutting back to my pointless subplot? I mean, you're giving it as much weight as the mother/daughter conflict at the heart of this film, and that just ain't right!".

As someone who lost their mother way too soon, I'd kill to get 12 more voicemails from her. I wanted to slap Lori early on and say, "Snap out of it! She's your Mom! She's 70 and looks drop-dead gorgeous. She's kind to everyone she meets. She makes peoples' lives better. Sure, she needs to work out some issues, but she's a good person! Be nice to her or I'll cancel your stupid TV pilot!".