MAY 13, 2016
A movie with the title “The Meddler” pretty much tells you what you’re in for, and if you think you can anticipate every beat of this predictable story, you’ll be proven right when you see it.
Marnie Minervini (Susan Sarandon) is a recently widowed Brooklynite, with little to live for after the death of her husband, who decides to relocate across the country to be with her LA-based TV screenwriter daughter Lori (Rose Byrne). Lori has a pilot to sell and doesn’t have time for mom’s helpfulness, but Marnie will not take no for an answer. Wackiness ensues.
The first hour of the film is tough going. Sarandon takes on a heavy Brooklyn accent, and for the first half-hour, it feels like it’s part of an SNL skit as she tries to interact with her daughter with definite Brooklynite gestures. Love me some Rose Byrne, but she has an absolutely thankless role here, which she acquits professionally but not memorably. (If you’re a Bryne fan, wait for “Neighbors 2” in two weeks.)
Things pick up in Act 2 when Marnie stumbles into being an extra on a movie shoot and meets retired motorcycle cop Zipper (J.K. Simmons). Zipper, really? Simmons has the ability to perk any movie up by his presence, and though he’s essentially playing the same macho dreamboat part that Sam Elliott has played in 2015’s “I’ll See You In My Dreams” and “Grandma,” his spark does give “The Meddler” a kick in the pants that it desperately needs.
After Simmons leaves the proceedings, the film sags once again as Sarandon tries to find herself in Los Angeles, and it probably won’t surprise you that she does just that and that she reconciles with Lori.
“The Meddler” is of interest mostly if you’re a fan of Sarandon, which I am. In recent years, she has been used in cameos or as a sidekick, but “The Meddler” gives the Oscar-winner a full range of emotions to play with. Sarandon has clearly proven that she has the ability to carry a movie by herself, and it’s great that she is given the chance here.
Writer/director Lorene Scafaria, whose previous film, “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” received critical respect, based Marnie on her own mother, and there’s a personal connection here that comes across. But that doesn’t necessarily make for a good movie.
But it is great to see Sarandon exercising her acting muscles. I just wish it was on better material than “The Meddler.”
GRADE: C
