Susan Sarandon is a lonely woman who moves closer to be “The Meddler” to her adult daughter. In the film written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, Marnie Minervini (Sarandon) has a new Iphone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable account left to her by her beloved late husband, but the one thing she seeks is family interaction. With a spontaneous decision, Marnie happily relocates from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her 30-something daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), a successful Hollywood screenplay writer, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited love advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and motherly instincts with forceful generosity to change the lives of others around her. With this new leap of giving, Marnie finds new purpose and need in her own life that has been missing from the scene for a long time. “The Meddler” is rated PG-13 for brief drug content.
“The Meddler” is a film that fires on every cylinder for its endless supply of heart and radiant chemistry from the two love interests in the movie. Scafaria cooks up a tender experience that is a tasty treat not only for a Mother/Daughter day, but a romantic date night that always keeps the mood classy and smooth. Heading into this film after seeing the trailers only gave me half of the story. There’s a wide range of emotional depth and storyline versatility that the film treads on that totally leaves you unprepared for the rollercoaster of feelings that you encounter, and for my money it achieved greatness on every field of sentimentality that it attempted. A movie like this should’ve been released nationally on Mother’s Day, and as it stands, I can see it being at the top of any list that I recommend for that stay at home Sunday between a Mother and Daughter who are best friends. It never feels overburdened with sappy meaningful material, and offers a nice cooling down period between great performances with awkward humor that had me examining the surreal coincidences in my own life. I think that there’s tremendous crossover appeal with male audiences, and Scafaria offers a heartwarming deconstruction on family dynamics and the importance of your place when you lose the most important aspect of your life.
This film doesn’t get off the ground without such an alluring cast, and “The Meddler” prides itself on opening its caring arms to very enjoyable performances. Susan Sarandon charms her way into our hearts as the Naive but lovable Marnie, and there really is more to this woman than the smiles that she puts on everyday. After the untimely death of her husband, Marnie searches desperately for an identity of her own, even so much that she moves across the country to be closer to her daughter. The desperation in her is made evident by using money as a bridge to building any relationship along the way. I often found myself feeling great empathy for her, but not in a way that feel that feels disrespectful to the character. This is a well written woman whose biggest fear is the quiet in her own life, something that I found myself understanding within the perimeters of my own life. When she meets Randy (Played by J.K Simmons) however, the whole ideal changes because suddenly she has a pair of eyes on her for the first time in years, instead of vice versa. The chemistry between Simmons and Sarandon trump any romantic coupling that I have seen since 2014’s “The Fault In Our Stars”, and a lot of that has to do with the commanding presence of both actors without ever having to get physical to grab their audience. The radiant magic between them makes their union not only believable but comforting in the very investment we have made for both of their characters. The film feels the smoothest during this transition, and shows that the film is a lot more than a barrel of laughs.
The only negative that I could spot in the movie is a personal preference that bothers me endlessly in movies. Why when comedy composers write pieces of music do they have to practically feed the emotion to the audience like they would be too stupid otherwise to grasp? I won’t call out the musical composer by name for this movie, but for the first half of the film (Mostly a comedy) we are treated to obnoxious musical tones that are very practical for the scene they accompany. For instance, if we are supposed to laugh, you will hear wacky, quick flutes. If the situation is a sad scene, you will hear light piano chords communicating that we should give our sincerest heart. This might not seem like a big deal, but it makes me feel that the production team has very little faith in its audience, and not everything should always be cookie cutter.
What is compelling the most about Scafaria’s story is that it never falls into predictable traps. The film sets up for the entirety that Marnie’s generosity is going to come back to haunt her, leaving her the butt of the jokes. This is never the case, as the film (while conventional at times) does lean towards a bigger picture. This isn’t just a typical comedy. It aims more at an honest telling of the importance of being a Mother, and how you can never quite go back to being without it once you’ve been accustomed to such a lifestyle. Sarandon’s performance feels authentic, and the movie feels very much like a life lesson that we could all use. “The Meddler” is a welcome interruption that puts the audience in relatable territory: either as the meddler or the medlee.
8/10