BEFORE: You might wonder, why not put this film next to "A Star Is Born", which is also on the list? Ah, for several reasons - one is that I've already worked "A Star Is Born" into my chain for viewing in May, because I'd already isolated every film with a possible acting connection to "Avengers: Endgame", and I've got a different intro and outro already planned. Now, of course, things could change, but right now putting this film next to that one, because of the Sam Elliott connection, would force changing my plan, and I'd rather not. Plus I peeked a little at the plotline for this one, there's enough of a romance angle, I think, for me to justify putting it here.
Krysten Ritter carries over from "27 Dresses", where she played the office assistant with the Goth wedding.
THE PLOT: An ailing movie star comes to terms with his past and mortality.
AFTER: There was quite a bit of buzz for Sam Elliott this year at the Oscars, considering that the guy is turning 75 this year, has been working in movies for decades, and had never been nominated before "A Star Is Born". Sometimes the Academy seems to give out awards that basically reward an actor for their entire career, not just one role. It wasn't in the cards for him, of course, but if you want to know where the Oscar buzz for him started, it was the year before, with the campaign for him to be nominated for his work in "The Hero". I watched this one on an Academy screener left over from last year, and since the whole movie centers on him, it's a character-driven piece, one in which it might be a little hard to tell where the character leaves off and the story of the actor starts.
That's mainly because he's an actor famous for being in Westerns and also for doing commercial voice-overs for manly food products like BBQ sauce (Elliott starred in "Tombstone" and was, for many years, the voice known for saying "Beef. It's what's for dinner" on your TV screen.). But he's getting on in years, and finding that Hollywood isn't making too many Westerns any more. So he ambles around Hollywood, much like "The Dude" in that other film Elliott was famous for being in, visiting his pot dealer and dropping in on his ex-wife, telling everyone he's going to be working on a new movie, because that's a whole lot easier than telling them the diagnosis he recently got from his doctor.
But then he meets a woman in her 30's with the same dealer, and she happens to have a thing for older men. The possibility of a new relationship at his age inspires him to re-connect with his estranged daughter, and also accept that invitation from the "Western Appreciation Society" to receive their lifetime achievement award. All he has to do is show up, take some pictures, give a short speech, and try not to do anything embarrassing or outrageous. Well, OK, 3 out of 4 isn't really that bad, if you think about it. But if you'd like to imagine about what Sam Elliott's Oscar speech would have sounded like, you can maybe get an idea from what his character said here, accepting the award from the Western Appreciation Society.
Not much happens beyond that, Lee auditions for some kind of sci-fi film but finds that the character is also an estranged father figure, and that hits a little too close to home. His new girlfriend turns out to be a stand-up comic who can't wait to make jokes on stage about the 70-year old man she started dating, and Lee is forced to finally make some decisions about whether he's going to take any steps to fight his medical condition. And then there are a lot of shots where he's either in a Western movie or staring at the waves on a beach, occasionally both, and it's a bit unclear on whether these are memories, dreams or drug-induced hallucinations. Maybe when you get to be in your 70's there's very little distinction between those things?
It sort of feels like this film only scratched the surface of this character, I wish they'd dug in a little deeper here, but there's still something very intangible about him. If you want to qualify for an award beyond Best Supporting Mustache, you've got to really get in there and put yourself out there.
Also starring Sam Elliott (last seen in "We Were Soldiers"), Laura Prepon (last seen in "The Girl on the Train"), Nick Offerman (last seen in "Casa de mi Padre"), Katharine Ross (last seen in "The Shadow Riders"), Max Gail (last seen in "Night Moves"), Patrika Darbo, with cameos from Ali Wong (last heard in "The Angry Birds Movie"), Cameron Esposito (last seen in "Mother's Day").
RATING: 5 out of 10 street tacos
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