I just saw it at the Annapolis Film Festival and I want to watch it again immediately. This smart, witty, and perfect character study follows Wanda (Edie Falco), a woman who will drop everything to help a family member… And lately, everyone seems to need too much help. The title, “I’ll Be Right There,” perfectly sums up her character. Impressively, the film doesn’t seek to reduce this type of person, and we all know someone like that, or ARE this person.
This film will give you a lot to think about, no matter where you fall on the “Giver” scale (if you’re a 10, you’re likely not only neglecting yourself, but enabling bad behavior and making other people more dependent on you… If you’re a 1, you’re likely so afraid of being used that your relationships will suffer).
Director: Brendan Walsh
Writer: Jim Beggarly
Stars: Edie Falco, Jeannie Berlin, Kayli Carter
This is a movie for adults, putting the question of “How much help is too much?” front and center. Edie Falco makes you feel the weariness and worry, and keeps the audience from judging her decisions, which constantly surprise. She is not an idea. Her character has layers of specificity and many aspects that are not apparent from the beginning. This kind of storytelling is a delicate soufflé, and it goes against a lot of pressure for screenwriters to heighten conflict and give audiences big emotional cues.
Based on reading the summary, I was expecting a different kind of movie, one that aimed to critique this kind of overprotective parenting and the way it can produce stumbling, helpless adult children.
This is certainly a subtext of the story: how does Wanda’s permissive behavior affect those around her? But Jim Beggarly’s script in the hands of director Brendan Walsh has much more on its mind.
There were moments early on when I felt uneasy: “Where is this movie going?” Some scenes, including an astonishing monologue by Jeannie Berlin as Wanda’s mother, seem to take their time and have no clear impact on the scenes that follow.
By the end, it becomes clear that every lived moment, all the random details of Wanda’s chaotic week, have created such a rich tapestry that it invites real reflection on very adult issues that we often never express to the people around us, even though they are central to our daily ups and downs.
I can imagine some people having life-changing conversations if they watched this film with a sibling, a parent, or their own adult children.
Truly sublime filmmaking. It doesn’t advertise itself as important or push buttons to get your emotions flowing. I hope it finds a devoted following all the same. I count myself among them.
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