It’s not a big mystery why Hollywood isn’t cranking out
movies geared toward older audiences. Explosions and boobs make the studios
piles of cash out of the gate and in the lucrative foreign markets, while
chatty character pieces about those of a certain age play more effectively to
English-speaking crowds and, thanks to buzz, typically generate better revenue
for the theaters in the later weeks. (It’s what the industry refers to as
“legs.”) But as the first wave of the coveted and powerful baby-boomer
demographic turns 70, you may encounter more films like “I’ll See You in My
Dreams,” a beautifully acted rumination on aging that only occasionally
succumbs to broad clichรฉ. And you certainly don’t need to be a senior citizen
in order to appreciate its charms.
“I’ll See
You in My Dreams” stars the radiant Blythe Danner as Carol, a retired teacher
and longtime widow who we meet as she’s saying goodbye to an old friend.
(Warning: You might be blubbering within the first five minutes.) Her days are
filled with routine like gardening, solitary meals, and cards with the girls.
(These “girls” are ringers: Rhea Perlman, June Squibb, and Mary Kay Place.) But
even though she declares “I don’t like my life all complicated,” Carol does
seem to be seeking connection of some kind. She strikes up an unlikely
friendship with pool cleaner Lloyd (Apatow regular
Martin Starr, excellent as always) and she lets Perlman’s sassy Sally talk her
into a painful round of speed dating. Then Carol meets Bill.
Bill is
played by the eternally sexy Sam Elliott, so when Bill hits on Carol in the
vitamin aisle, the proverbial sparks can’t help but fly. The too-perfect Bill
is more plot-fueling archetype than breathing being, but Elliott, his scorching
charisma still intact even if his pants are belted a little higher these days,
is perfectly cast as the silver fox that might tempt a lonely widow to take a
chance. “I’ll See You in My Dreams” unfolds as Carol begins to poke her head
out from the shell of her rigid life by relying upon others and allowing
herself to be needed as well. This carries with it some potential danger — of
hurt, of disappointment, of devastating loss — but with risk often comes
reward, even if it initially feels otherwise.
Surprisingly,
and despite good performances, the scenes among the ladies are the movie’s low
points. Director and co-scripter Brett Haley paints Perlman, Squibb, and
Place’s characters with trite, unsubtle strokes, resorting to caricature and a
little condescension. But Haley does right by Danner; she appears in nearly
every frame of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” likely drawing upon her own
experiences as a septuagenarian widow (that’s her late husband, producer Bruce
Paltrow, in the mantel photos) in what is essentially a coming-of-age flick.
It’s definitely not middle age, not yet old age. It’s whatever that in-between
age is when the sunset is on the horizon but there’s still enough left to rage
against the dying of the light.
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2015.
