Disappointment, delusion, dementia, death—did I mention this is a comedy? Writer-director Tamara Jenkins (
Slums of Beverly Hills) squarely addresses the concerns of middle age, treating them with the gravity they deserve but also the forbearance and humor they often demand. Wendy Savage (Laura Linney), a failed playwright in Greenwich Village, and her brother, Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a plodding college professor in Buffalo, are called out to Sun City, Arizona, after their estranged father (Philip Bosco) begins succumbing to dementia and Parkinson's disease. There's nothing for them to do but install him in a nursing home back east, and Jenkins confronts the unpleasant realities of aging with matter-of-fact calm. The father may have abandoned them, but they choose not to abandon him, and in trying to preserve his dignity they unexpectedly affirm their own. R, 113 min.
By
J.R. Jones
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