Judy Berlin by Eric Mendelsohn (Review)

Yep, another film about American suburbia. Take a group of quirky people going through various crises in their lives, throw in searches for life and meaning, insert some quasi-deep reminiscing, and set it in a town going through an unusually long eclipse, and watch the humor and poignancy ensue. Or not, in Judy Berlin’s case.

The cast of characters are all there: the bored housewife; the dissatisfied husband; their son, a failed film director; the small-town actress hoping to make it big in California; the disgruntled teacher. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care less about these character. The film is so self-absorbed that it makes the mistake of thinking these characters and their lives are interesting. The one character whose story was remotely interesting and moving, an elderly teacher suffering from Alzheimer’s, is barely explored.

Apparently, all sorts of praises were heaped upon Edie Falco, who played the titular character. Unfortunately, her character is a starry-eyed ditz whose innocence concerning the machinations of Hollywood feels more like a mild case of stupidity.

In the end, I can’t help but feel that, in one form or another, I’ve seen this kind of film done before, and in a much better fashion.