Shadows on the Wall | Place to Be

Place to Be

dir Kornel Mundruczo
scr Kata Weber
prd Jomon Thomas, Megan Wynn, Craig McMahon, Alexander Rodnyansky
with Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi, Murray Bartlett, Pamela Anderson, David Wenham, Lena Waithe, Aradia Horo Benge, Jaime Ureta, Kelsey Jeanell, Daniel Horvath, Oliver Zantvoort, Bali Padda
release WP Sep.26 vff
26/Australia 1h50

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Unlikely to ruffle any feathers, this bright and easy comedy-drama follows an elderly woman as she takes a stand against giving up her independence. It helps hugely that she's played by the radiantly gifted Ellen Burstyn, because the film's plot is fairly simplistic, and it doesn't seem to have a clear idea about where it's headed. Filming in Australia, Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo keeps everything sunny and amusing.

In Chicago, Brooke (Burstyn) is pressured by her adult children Ron (Bartlett) and Molly (Anderson) to sell the family home, and her husband's valuable paintings, and move into a retirement home. Then a white pigeon turns up persistently, and its owner (Wenham) is in New York. So she buys a train ticket and sets off to return the bird, which she names Intruder. On the train she meets Nelson (Waititi) a flustered estate agent heading to Manhattan trying to get his life back on track. And they reluctantly team up for a series of misadventures.

Watching this sharp, observant woman engage with people is delightful, because her kindness is what helps her move forward. So it's hard to watch others take advantage of her or even to simply fail to listen. The script never gets too deep; her children are portrayed as caring but completely self-interested, and she of course knows it. And it's also obvious that Nelson's brusque outbursts will give way to a deepening friendship, even as the script contrives to keep them together.

The film relies heavily on the fact that Burstyn can speak to the audience without doing or saying anything. Her stillness reveals everything we need to know, and Brooke's open-hearted approach to the world is wonderful to engage with for a couple of hours. It seems impossible that none of this would have rubbed off on her children, who don't seem to see it themselves, but Bartlett and Anderson are solid in underwritten roles. As Brooke's primary foil, Waititi has some surprises in store, playfully depicting Nelson's uptight temper before beginning to deconstruct it.

Scenes of soaring racing pigeons punctuate the film at regular intervals. But the parallels between this lost bird and Brooke's sentimental journey never quite come together. And a few nostalgic touches feel somewhat pushy, while the clashes between Brooke and Nelson are repeatedly resolved with implausible plot points. On the other hand, we could listen for hours to Burstyn recounting lively stories from the swinging late-1960s.

themes, language, violence 9.Sep.26 vff

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