BEFORE: I sort of found the antidote to the depression caused by this week's films (which all seem to end up being about suicide or the death of loved ones), and that's comedy. Real stand-up comedy - I recorded a number of specials from cable and took some time today to dub them to DVD, and watching them has lifted my spirits a bit - so thanks to Jay Mohr, Dana Gould, John Mulaney, Amy Schumer and Chris Hardwick for doing what they do, and to the channels that still air stand-up comedy specials, because man, sometimes we just need it.
I've been working my way backwards through Robin Williams' filmography, of course skipping the films I've seen before, but I let the reverse chronology choose the order, until tonight anyway. I'm dropping in two latecomers that were airing on cable this week, partially as a bit of an extender to make the right film fall on Memorial Day weekend, but also they seemed to fit with the tone of the week. Admittedly Robin Williams doesn't have a lead role here, just a supporting one, but I've seen a number of dead spouse riffs already this week, so I'm hoping this slips right in.
THE PLOT: A widow falls for a man who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.
AFTER: When I discovered the premise of this film, my mind went in a few different directions. I mean, it would be an astounding coincidence for someone to find a new lover who looked exactly like their last one, right? So a couple obvious (to me, anyway) explanations rose to the surface - ah, he's probably her husband's long-lost twin, and they were separated at birth. Or maybe they'll go the soap opera route, and he faked his own death, only to come back once suspicion died down. Ooh, ooh, maybe someone had plastic surgery done to LOOK like her dead husband, to mess with her sanity for some similar purpose.
Aliens? Clones? Pod people? Her husband was a secret agent? Oh, maybe he's not even really there, maybe she's just imagining a new lover who looks just like her dead husband - can other characters see him? I guess I've maybe been watching too many movies, if my mind immediately goes to the more fantastic scenarios. But that's where I am in my life right now - a movie starts and right away I start to see if I can predict the ending. I think my mental software for watching, analyzing and judging has just run too many times in a row - I'm practically on auto-pilot at this point.
So let's mark it as a positive that there are no aliens or clones or pod people in this film - just two people, one alive and one dead, who happen to look alike, which conveniently allows them to be played by the same actor. The film itself acknowledges that there are so many people in the world, and there are only so many facial shapes, hair styles, nose shapes, etc. that statistically, anyone could have a virtual double living somewhere else that they will probably never run into. Hey, people used to say that no two snowflakes are alike, but now they're saying even that's not true, water can freeze in only so many configurations, you would just have to look at an awful lot of them to find a match.
So if you give this premise the benefit of the doubt and allow that it's possible, where does the story go from there? Well, it doesn't exactly go nowhere, but it doesn't cover a lot of territory, either. There are conversations that need to happen in order for these two humans to keep interacting in a romantic fashion, and the fact that those conversations keep NOT happening seems to be a huge delaying tactic. Because as soon as they have one of those conversations, then the truth is going to come out, and someone's going to start questioning what the true nature of the relationship is, and then once that happens, it's either going to be over, or it's going to go to the next level.
The obvious shout-out is to Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo", or perhaps "Body Double" (which was sort of De Palma's tribute to Hitch, anyway), only without much of that suspense or intrigue. And this film is just crying out for some intrigue - to me the long, framed shots of Robin Williams' neighbor character suggested something sinister was going on, but perhaps I'm reading something between the lines that wasn't really there.
In the end, it's sort of an extreme example of something that a lot of people go through - not just loss, but recovering from loss. And whether it's divorce, death or some other form of separation, eventually people will get to a stage where they're ready to open up again, and dating becomes both wonderful and problematic, especially if the grieving process is still going on. Is it appropriate to take one's new lover to the same restaurants or the same vacation spots? When and how do you tell your family members about the new person in your life? Is it OK to date someone who reminds you of your ex-lover in certain ways? There are no hard and fast rules, to be sure, and again, this is the extremest of extreme examples, but I think as a metaphor it sort of encapsulates something a bit more universal.
Also starring Annette Bening (last seen in "Girl Most Likely"), Ed Harris (last heard in "Gravity"), Jess Weixler, Amy Brenneman (last seen in "Your Friends & Neighbors"), Clyde Kusatsu (last seen in "The Interpreter"), Linda Park.
RATING: 4 out of 10 birds of paradise
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