Welcome to another indie dramedy of quirky characters, this time courtesy of quirky indie director, Todd Solondz. Part black comedy, part drama with a message, I think Solondz wants it both ways. I saw the film at the IFC cinema in NYC and the two friends I was with found the blend of comedy and tragedy to be highly effective. Except for a few bits here and there and decent acting, I couldn't agree with my friends at all.
Life During Wartime begins with an intense conversation at a restaurant between Joy (Shirley Henderson) and her husband Alan (Michael Kenneth Williams). Joy, an underweight vegetarian who enjoys playing folk songs on her guitar, works with ex-cons and Alan is apparently a reformed crack addict. Joy is suddenly disappointed when a waitress recognizes Alan, who is still making obscene phone calls, and curses him out. It's supposed to be amusing as Alan blubbers inside the restaurant about how hard he's been trying to reform himself. Joy has had enough, so she heads to Florida to visit her sister, Trish (Allison Janney). Joy is plagued by visions of her first boyfriend Andy (Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman) who committed suicide. Another unfunny bit is Joy castigating the phantom Andy about trying to kill himself with a paper bag, as he might not actually die and end up as a 'vegetable'. The same discussion happens later on between husband Alan, who also eventually kills himself, and ends up as Phantom #2 in Joy's disturbed mind.
Trish, another dysfunctional family member, is divorced from Bill who is now just getting out of prison for molesting young boys. There's more unfunny black comedy when Trish confides in her 12 year old son, Timmy (about to be Bar Mitzvahed) about how wet she gets thinking about her new boyfriend Harvey (Michel Lerner). Solondz juxtaposes the kooky but attractive Trish with the overweight Harvey and clearly is mocking his characters as we see Trish (towering over Harvey), passionately kissing him in a parking garage. Later, there's a joke about how Harvey voted for Bush and McCain but only because they supported Israel (Harvey makes it clear that he will eventually return to Israel when he's about to die).
Things get more serious when Timmy returns home after a kid at school mocks him about his pedophile father (information about the father is readily available over the internet). Trish comforts Timmy as he expresses his fears about being victimized by pedophiles. Unfortunately, Solodnz seems to enjoy putting in suggestions of anal penetration into the mouth of Timmy which doesn't ring true for a 12 year old.
Joy decides to visit the third sister, Helen, a former poet turned screenwriter in California. Helen is neurotic as the rest of her sisters and can't seem to take the pressure of success. She has a melt down in front of Joy complaining about the difficulties of being Keanu Reeves' girlfriend and being the victim of a stalker. Joy eventually calls husband Alan who has already killed himself with a gun in their apartment. We don't actually see the return to New York but we know she's found Alan's body after she has visions once again of him, after returning to Florida.
There are two final scenes leading to the film's climax. First Bill returns to the family home where he locates older son's Billy's address at college. Bill visits the older son at his dorm room where he admits that despite therapy in prison, his demons have not gone away and he's still a pedophile. When Bill asks his son what's his major in school, Billy replies 'anthropology'. It seems he's studying (of all things) the homosexual orientation of bonobo monkeys (Billy finds that incest between the monkeys is a natural thing!). Maybe I'm reading too much into this scene but perhaps Billy has a thing for his father (he does make it clear that he wants his father to be back in the family's lives but the father, a broken man, walks out forever). Why does Solondz keep undercutting our sympathies for the characters? The bit about the father's love for gum drops, just seems nonsensical.
Finally, there's Timmy's adult-like conversation with Harvey where his mother's suitor tries to comfort the boy over his fear of pedophilia. Again, the way in which Timmy's verbalizes his fears, doesn't seem like it could come from the mouth of a 12 year old. Timmy mistakes Harvey's comforting moves as an advance by someone about to molest him. As a result, Trish believes Harvey to be an actual pedophile and sends him home packing. Later, Timmy apologizes to Harvey's son Mark who informs him that his father is moving to Israel (presumably to die).
Life During Wartime features one laugh-out-loud character and that's Harvey's son, the nerdy computer specialist who believes China will take over the world. All the actors acquit themselves well here, especially Dylan Riley Snyder as Timmy, who despite the inappropriate language, manages to effect an aura of maturity, well beyond his chronological age.
Solodnz can't make up his mind whether he sympathizes with his characters or has contempt for them. Somehow all the quirkiness didn't endear me to any of them. In the end, Life During Wartime, with its theme of forgiveness, falls short of being effective drama, precisely because its characters are so one-dimensional. And as a comedy, much of the humor is designed to titillate, but unfortunately produces few laughs.
Life During Wartime begins with an intense conversation at a restaurant between Joy (Shirley Henderson) and her husband Alan (Michael Kenneth Williams). Joy, an underweight vegetarian who enjoys playing folk songs on her guitar, works with ex-cons and Alan is apparently a reformed crack addict. Joy is suddenly disappointed when a waitress recognizes Alan, who is still making obscene phone calls, and curses him out. It's supposed to be amusing as Alan blubbers inside the restaurant about how hard he's been trying to reform himself. Joy has had enough, so she heads to Florida to visit her sister, Trish (Allison Janney). Joy is plagued by visions of her first boyfriend Andy (Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman) who committed suicide. Another unfunny bit is Joy castigating the phantom Andy about trying to kill himself with a paper bag, as he might not actually die and end up as a 'vegetable'. The same discussion happens later on between husband Alan, who also eventually kills himself, and ends up as Phantom #2 in Joy's disturbed mind.
Trish, another dysfunctional family member, is divorced from Bill who is now just getting out of prison for molesting young boys. There's more unfunny black comedy when Trish confides in her 12 year old son, Timmy (about to be Bar Mitzvahed) about how wet she gets thinking about her new boyfriend Harvey (Michel Lerner). Solondz juxtaposes the kooky but attractive Trish with the overweight Harvey and clearly is mocking his characters as we see Trish (towering over Harvey), passionately kissing him in a parking garage. Later, there's a joke about how Harvey voted for Bush and McCain but only because they supported Israel (Harvey makes it clear that he will eventually return to Israel when he's about to die).
Things get more serious when Timmy returns home after a kid at school mocks him about his pedophile father (information about the father is readily available over the internet). Trish comforts Timmy as he expresses his fears about being victimized by pedophiles. Unfortunately, Solodnz seems to enjoy putting in suggestions of anal penetration into the mouth of Timmy which doesn't ring true for a 12 year old.
Joy decides to visit the third sister, Helen, a former poet turned screenwriter in California. Helen is neurotic as the rest of her sisters and can't seem to take the pressure of success. She has a melt down in front of Joy complaining about the difficulties of being Keanu Reeves' girlfriend and being the victim of a stalker. Joy eventually calls husband Alan who has already killed himself with a gun in their apartment. We don't actually see the return to New York but we know she's found Alan's body after she has visions once again of him, after returning to Florida.
There are two final scenes leading to the film's climax. First Bill returns to the family home where he locates older son's Billy's address at college. Bill visits the older son at his dorm room where he admits that despite therapy in prison, his demons have not gone away and he's still a pedophile. When Bill asks his son what's his major in school, Billy replies 'anthropology'. It seems he's studying (of all things) the homosexual orientation of bonobo monkeys (Billy finds that incest between the monkeys is a natural thing!). Maybe I'm reading too much into this scene but perhaps Billy has a thing for his father (he does make it clear that he wants his father to be back in the family's lives but the father, a broken man, walks out forever). Why does Solondz keep undercutting our sympathies for the characters? The bit about the father's love for gum drops, just seems nonsensical.
Finally, there's Timmy's adult-like conversation with Harvey where his mother's suitor tries to comfort the boy over his fear of pedophilia. Again, the way in which Timmy's verbalizes his fears, doesn't seem like it could come from the mouth of a 12 year old. Timmy mistakes Harvey's comforting moves as an advance by someone about to molest him. As a result, Trish believes Harvey to be an actual pedophile and sends him home packing. Later, Timmy apologizes to Harvey's son Mark who informs him that his father is moving to Israel (presumably to die).
Life During Wartime features one laugh-out-loud character and that's Harvey's son, the nerdy computer specialist who believes China will take over the world. All the actors acquit themselves well here, especially Dylan Riley Snyder as Timmy, who despite the inappropriate language, manages to effect an aura of maturity, well beyond his chronological age.
Solodnz can't make up his mind whether he sympathizes with his characters or has contempt for them. Somehow all the quirkiness didn't endear me to any of them. In the end, Life During Wartime, with its theme of forgiveness, falls short of being effective drama, precisely because its characters are so one-dimensional. And as a comedy, much of the humor is designed to titillate, but unfortunately produces few laughs.