In the pantheon of overbearing movie moms, Marnie Minervini (Susan Sarandon) really isnt that bad; shes notscreeching about wire hangersorgrooming murderous Manchurian candidates; no one wants tothrow Marnie from the train.
Shes just a lonely, freshly widowed woman who follows her screenwriter daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) out to Los Angeles and finds thats there isnt much there to fill her to time beyond solo afternoons at the movies, daily trips to the Grove and the Apple store (she spends more time at the Genius Bar than most alcoholics spend in actual bars), and long aimless drives around the city, all of which she details in breezily meandering messages that pile up unchecked in Loris voicemail.
Stymied by her daughters resistance to 24/7 togethernessLori mostly just wants to be left alone to finish her TV pilot and pine quietly over a flaky actor ex (Jason Ritter)Marnie decides to turn her the high-beam of her bottomless TLC toward other targets.
Soon, shes ferrying a young Apple employee (Jerrod Carmichael) back and forth to the night classes shes encouraged him to take; planning the lesbian maritime wedding of Loris friend Jillians (Cecily Strong) dreams; and even spontaneously becoming an extra after wandering onto a film set.
Thats where she meets Zipper (J.K. Simmons), a twinkly-eyed ex-cop working part-time set security who is immediately taken with Marnies daffy charm (and somehow fails to notice that she is epically, accidentally stoned for the full duration of their first date).
Simmons is totally delightful in the role, though it helps that hes playing the sort of Centrum Silver dreamboat only Hollywood could conjure: A Harley-riding tough guy with a sagebrush mustache and a heart of gold who keeps a coop full of chickens in his Topanga Canyon yard that he serenades with vintage Dolly Parton songs.
Its so rare to see a major studio release centered on a woman over 60or at least one without a Dame before her first name or a Streep after itthat, like last yearsGrandma, its tempting to want to celebrateThe Meddlerjust for putting someone real and wrinkled (albeit still movie-star beautiful) onscreen without excuse or apology.
Though the 36-year-old Byrne has equal billing on the poster, she isnt given much to do beyond play 50 shades of exasperation, and most of the supporting rolesfrom young comedic stars Carmichael and Strong to vets like Michael McKean andTransparents Amy Landeckerare essentially cameos, so the movie really does hang on Sarandon.
Her character, reportedly based on writer-director Lorene Scafarias own mother, isnt drawn with any particular depth or nuance (and the broad New Yawk accent Sarandon tries on is about as authentically Brooklyn as a Sara Lee bagel).
But when the script isnt skimming along on sitcom-mom cliches, theres something tenderly affecting in her saucer-eyed vulnerability and tentative steps towards independence: Not as a mother or a meddlerjust a work in progress, like everyone else.B
