"Don’t be scared off by this all-female cast. Just because you have a dick doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it. The film completely restores the Meg Ryan we fell in love with sometime around 1989. "
I'm a man. A beer drinking, beef eating, airbrushed vagina abusing man. And I was prepared to have my balls eviscerated and pickled upon site of Diane English's remake of George Cukor's 1939 film The Women. I didn't want to see it. Nor did I think I'd enjoy it. So imagine my surprise when I started to identify with the main character, as played by Meg Ryan. She is a lonely wretch that has lost all interest in herself in order to make others happy. Her kid, her husband, and her father, whom she works very hard for. Without warning, everything falls apart around her. Her guy is having an affair with a tarted-up Eva Mendes. Her daughter thinks she's a lousy mentor. And her father has just fired her as his top clothing designer. It's here, at the epicenter of despair, that this chick, our heroine, is able to pull herself up from the wreckage and realize what truly makes her happy in life. And it's a great little fable, full of heart and bricks, and sugar and spice.
Running around, constantly trying to keep other people pleased is a universal theme for many folks. Both men and women can get caught up in it (i.e. the daily grind). Though there isn't a single man seen on screen (even the dogs, birds, and fish are of the female species according to English), that doesn't mean they can't enjoy this quick kick in the nuts. It only hurts so much, and I'm sure it will be a favorite amongst the older chicks in the audience. This thing is so squarely aimed at them, it's as if they all have a giant neon target on their forehead. If you get stuck in it's early bird matinee-like ways, you really only have your self to blame. You shouldn't have been out their chasing through the pages of your local cougar catalogue cause Maxim magazine told you it was cool. You should have been out there chasing the Nerd girl set. Because then you'd be watching Righteous Kill instead of listening to it bleed through the theater wall into your Meg Ryan martini like the juice off an old olive. Just know, if you keep your head up and are optimistic about the whole endeavor, you just might walk away liking the The Women. And you'll find that your dingle bling ball sack is still in place, and in good working order. Especially if you're into arches.
That's right, shoe fetishists. Take note; the entire opening sequence was created for you. While credits roll we see pumps of all kinds, hitting the hard pavement on a cold Monday morning. You'll want to freak toes, and probably leave the theater early, eager to get it on with the next pair of feet you see. Just make sure you get out the door before Annette Bening makes her first erstwhile appearance on screen. Because any thickening of blood vessels acquired will ease upon first site of her pulled back face.
That isn't a dig on Bening, per say. She just seems to be in a different movie than everyone else. Annette tromps onto the scene as if she's in some Bitch Farce full of forced broad comedy. A spoof of romantic magazine movies, her spurred arc doesn't move at the same speed as everyone else's. Bening lives in a different world than her on screen counterparts, and that may be my only real gripe with the film. As opposed to Meg's grieving mother-wife, Bening is a single senior with work problems. And she ends up betraying her best friend. The narrative seems to be going one way with this idea, and then hits a fork in the road with the introduction of Meg Ryan's character, who seems to be acting in a real movie with real elements of emotion. It's an odd shift that occurs two or three times throughout the duration of English's flick. Half the time, we're experiencing a downshift into second gear when it comes to the overall tone of the piece. Please, pick a genre and stay with it, Diane. This type of back and forth is liable to grind on one's nerves, and it throws your whole viewing experience out of whack.
It seems that English is working from two very different angles with Ryan and Bening's lead characters. Its almost as if she is trying to merge different comedy styles with each of their respective personalities, instead of letting their on-screen relationship blossom naturally. It's a notion that doesn't really work. Not until the third act, which redeems itself in whole. Near the end of the film, Bening's plastic armor starts to fall off all around her, and she slowly works her way into a more subdued reality. And its here, in the last reel, that she actually becomes a real, likable character. Luckily, most of the damage seen in the film's two hour running time hangs off of Ryan's wilting body in a means to make her the sympathetic one. Without Meg, the film wouldn't work. And it's her trademark personality that sells this lofty log of bread. She's hearty soup, while everything else around her is oyster crackers.
If the film gives us one great thing, its Meg Ryan's old personality back. This is the Meg we fell in love with back in the eighties. The one that up and left us eight years ago after her personal life got wrung through the tabloid scene. Remember? We were left with a darker Meg. One that gave blowjobs and showed her tits on screen. In an attempt to change her aging persona, Ryan gravitated towards films like In The Cut and Against the Ropes. No one wanted to see those awful things, so then she hit up a younger man in In the Land of Women, and then was shuffled off into the completely embarrassing direct-to-DVD thriller My Mom's New Boyfriend. Seriously. What was that about? But now, she is back in our good graces, giving those coy smiles with that graceful bit of goofiness she does so well. She's one of the few leading ladies out there that can makes rubber rain boots sexy. And she gets her biggest laugh in years by eating a stick of butter right out of the fridge, dipped in sugar and hot chocolate dust. None of her contemporaries would be able to pull that off with such conviction. If Meg plays her cards right, she just might end up being the next Jessica Tandy. And I say that with love (please, please let this mean there's a batteries not included remake on the horizon!).
Diane English has asked that the end of her film not be spoiled. Which is weird, since its such an anti-climactic bump after the fact. It does bring an interesting aspect of the film into sharp focus, though. And that's the fact that every single living apparition, including all extras and animals, are strictly female. It seems gimmicky when you hear it, but its not really. Not in the way this notion plays out on screen. Once you are enveloped in Ryan's story, you don't even notice that there are no men around to clutter up the estrogenic action. After about six seconds, you don't really care. Oh, her husband is present. Let's not over look that fact. He is quite important to the story, pushing the lofty narrative as the cheating spouse that sends Meg's life in a whole new direction. We see various different women on the phone with him throughout the course of this comedy. But we never hear his voice. So, you get to decide who this cheater is in your own head. Which is a fun game if you get board. Imagination. Oh, how wonderful. At first, I pictured Billy Crystal in the role, imagining this as a follow-up to When Harry Met Sally.... But then Meg reveals that her character has been married for thirteen years, and that her and her husband like to carve pumpkins. Hmm? Thirteen years ago? If we were clocking Meg's romantic comedy pedigree, that would make her husband...Wait for it...Kevin Kline from French Kiss? Yup, makes perfect sense. I sort of love that.
So, don't be scared off by this all-female cast. Just because you have a dick doesn't mean you won't enjoy it. The Women is one of this fall's best films for grown-ups, and it completely restores the Meg Ryan we fell in love with sometime around 1989. The Women get a Whoop-Doo! from B. Alan Orange.
(All of B. Alan Orange's reviews are based on the Boo! or Whoop-doo! evaluation system.)
Movie News
1 Comments
2 Comments
good review