It is a Mystery in the Life of an AMERICAN WOMAN

Jeri Jacquin

Opening in theatres this Friday from director Jake Scott and Roadside Attractions is a long mystery with AMERICAN WOMAN.

Supermarket cashier Deb Callahan (Sienna Miller) is living her own exciting life in a small town in Pennsylvania. At home is her daughter Bridget (Sky Ferreira) with a young son of her own. Across the street is Deb’s sister Katherine (Christina Hendricks) who is very judgmental of Deb’s life and doesn’t hold her opinion back. Mom Peggy (Amy Madigan) goes along to get along.

After a night out with boyfriend Tyler (Alex Neustaedter), Deb is upset that Bridget hasn’t returned home. She begins looking and discovers she had a fight with her boyfriend and visited a friend before leaving on her own. The vanishing of Bridget sets her off the deep end not knowing what to do.

The years pass and Deb is now with boyfriend Ray (Pat Healy) and raising grandson Jesse (Aiden Fiske). Going to school she is trying to make a better life for herself and the boy. At night she is on the internet looking for any signs of Bridget. The truth is out there about Ray with his temper and Tyler and his fatherly visits.

But it’s time for Deb to strike out on her own, even with the shadow of her daughter constantly following her. It doesn’t stop her from finishing what she started and celebrating with the family who is back in her life. Then she meets Chris (Aaron Paul) and life moves forward as it should.

Yet there is still a mystery waiting to be solved.

Miller as Deb is a woman who definitely has had more lows than highs. Her self-esteem is nearly nil and she is doing her best to raise a young grandson that is smart and well aware of their situation. When her time comes to find the answers she needs to know but is she ready to know.

Hendricks as Katherine is the worrisome sister who sees the path that Deb was taking and once Bridget is gone, tries to stop the train wreck. Deb doesn’t make it easy but that doesn’t stop Hendricks character from making sure she doesn’t totally fall. Madigan as Mom Peggy wants what’s best for her daughter but there are unresolved issues between she and Deb that constantly flow out.

Paul as Chris is the one unexpected thing in her love that begins to make her feel as if there is hope for Deb’s life. He is funny, charming and enjoys the life that they create for themselves. But there comes a moment when a choice must be made and once again it effective everyone that lives in the shadow of Bridget.

Other cast include Will Sasso as Terry, Kelly Golden as Jenna Cunningham, Bates Wilder as Detective O’Brien, Rachel Singer as Mrs. Derrick and Kentucker Audley as Brett.

AMERICAN WOMAN is a slow paced film and in this case I liked it for just that reason. This is a story of a life that is affected by one event with a family left behind to pick up the pieces. The performances are fantastic as Miller, Hendricks and Paul wrap around the story leaving us to slowly pull it all apart.

The cinematography is just as deep and part of the mystery as who stopped Bridget from coming home that fateful night. Watching their journey is one of heartbreak, understanding and relentless hope that for once, the ending could be what all of us would hope for ourselves.

It is the story of a woman who made changes in her life according to events all the way up to a woman changing her life because she was strong enough to do it for herself. It is life moving forward for the sake of living and not on hold for a past you can not change. It takes the power of moving past pain to make that happen and Miller gives us just that.

In the end – never lose hope!

NOSTALGIA is the Thin Thread Between Our Mementos and Memories

Jeri Jacquin

In theatres this Friday from writer/director Mark Pellington and Bleeker Street is the story of lives, love and loss all wrapped around NOSTALGIA.

Ronnie Ashemore (Bruce Dern) is an elderly man who is surrounded by his life of the written word and when visited by insurance agent Daniel Kalman (John Ortiz). Having a look around at the behest of Ronnie's granddaughter, the elderly gentleman makes it clear that there is no reason for him to leave his home. Daniel listens as Ronnie makes it clear that although he is surrounded by the life he shared with family, others might see it all as trash.

Daniel next meets Helen Greer (Ellen Burstyn), a widower who he finds sitting in the midst of ashes where her house once stood. Recalling the events of the fire, Helen explains the irony of the things she chose to save before the firemen came in to save her. One such item is a baseball that belonged to her late husband and she can't explain why she saved it.

Staying with her son Henry (Nick Offerman), Helen feels the pressure he is placing on her to consider assisted living. Helen feels the need to break away and packs the saved belongings and heads for Las Vegas to meet Will Beam (Jon Hamm) to talk to him about the ball. Their conversation turns nostalgic on the power that personal possessions have over each of them.

Will is off for the weekend to help his sister Donna (Catherine Keener) clear out their family home since their parents have moved to Florida. Making trip after trip to a dumpster outside the house, each decides they will take a few things but get rid of everything else. Donna wants daughter Tallie (Annalise Basso) to go through the attic but the young girl makes it clear that this is Donna and Will's history - not hers. Instead, Tallie wants to be with her friends and live in the now.

All of that comes to a screeching halt as Donna, husband Patrick (James LeGros) and Will come to terms with the memories of childhood, places we live, objects held dear and the technology that has changed the feeling of nostalgia.

Burstyn as Helen is an absolute treasure and every time she is on screen I stop in my tracks. In this role she is a widower who has been living on her own but all of that changes in a split second. Watching Burstyn take this character so deep kept me absolutely invested and put my heart through the ringer. Everything she said and every emotion poured out is believable because it is life and even the character Helen knows we don't get out alive. The scene between Helen and the insurance appraiser in the soot is just a true and brain-twisting as her realizations with Will and a baseball. Thank you Ellen for an endearing realistic perspective like no other.

Hamm as Will is a man who hides loss behind his collectables yet how could he know that the moments with Helen would prepare him for what is to come. Going through his parent’s home, this character takes the attitude that he's there to clean out, reminisce a little with sister Donna and move on. Hamm gives such a strong performance and makes it look amazingly easy but let me say when Hamm gets teary eyed - it hurts. Keener as Donna is a woman who is watching her teen daughter grow up so very quickly, has been taking care of her parents and now seeing her childhood close down for the last time. If that isn't enough, life has thrown her the cruelest hit of all. Keener doesn't hold back and she certainly gave me reason to think on her role for several days - she is that powerful.

LeGros as Patrick is a husband who has to be the shoulder his wife needs but also deals with the reality that there was once a time when photographs were everything. Now with cell phones, if that is destroyed then so are the pictures people would normally have as photographs on paper. Dern as Ronnie has a smaller role but it isn't any less impactful. He also understands the life he has lead and those he spent his life loving making no apologies for either.

Other cast includes Bella Pellington, Tamar Pelzig, Romy Rosemont, Amber Tamblyn, Ashlyn Williams, Jennifer Mudge, Chris Marquette, Mark Marcarian, Anna O'Bryan, Joanna Going, Lindsey Kraft, Beth Grant, Patton Oswalt and Hugo Armstrong.

NOSTALGIA is a film that is going to challenge everyone's perception of life. It is true that people of my age hold things dear because that is how we were raised. I was shown how to preserve photographs, baby books, family bibles, baptism gowns and family heirloom jewelry because they are a piece of history that I wanted to pass on to my children. Fortunately, my children are the same and often one will ask if I have something specific from their childhood and are thrilled when I do.

The pull between the objects and our emotions creates a bond that can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. The blessing is for family members who are thrilled to get beloved items and the curse are the family members that don't share the feelings and waste no time in turning everything over for donation fodder.

The film brings out the issue of how easy it is to lose mementos because we have become a world of snapping pictures with our phones or shooting video thinking we will download them later - but rarely do. In an instant the memories we took the time to 'preserve' are lost with a phone dropped in water or just a lost phone period.

NOSTALGIA also brings us into the lives of these characters that are so relatable because everything they are experiencing, we have all experienced with no exception. The loss of parents or loved ones, getting older and looking back means holding the items that represent milestones in our lives and the lives of those we love, and deciding when it is time to let the weight of those things go to find a freedom we didn't know possible.

In truth we are such emotional packrats, some of us just let what's inside leak out into our closets, storage rooms and lives.

I love this film, absolutely love it and am unapologetic for it. The cast is completely fascinating and sheer perfection bringing it all together beautifully, sadly and stunningly. The story is real, authentic and so damn emotional that for a moment I wasn't thrilled to feel so much so fast. That's life right?

In the end - it is the memories of the lives lived.

Three Men Come Together Again for the LAST FLAG FLYING

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from writer/director Richard Linklater and Amazon Studios is a journey bringing the past and the present today for the LAST FLAG FLYING.

It is 2003 and Larry Shepherd (Steve Carell) walks into the bar of Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) who at first doesn’t recognize him. Eventually Sal realize he is talking to Doc, a man he served with during the Vietnam War they are both happy to see one another. After a night of drinking, he asks Sal to join him on a little adventure.

That leads both men to the doorstep of a church where Rev. Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) much to the amusement of Sal. When the three have dinner with the Reverend and his wife, Doc asks the two men if he will go with him to retrieve the coffin of his son who was recently killed in Iraq.

Absolutely stunned, the two men agree and on their trip the discussion of what happened to the three of them in Vietnam is hinted at. Arriving at Dover Air Force Base, Doc learns from Larry’s buddy Washington (J. Quinton Johnson) how his son died. That changes everything as Doc decides to take his son home for burial much to the aggravation of Col. Wilits (Yul Vazquez).

It is on the train ride home that Sal and Mueller talk about what happened in Vietnam, Doc keeps himself together and Washington escorts Larry home. The thirty years between Vietnam and Iraq brings about conversations that needed to be had and closure to souls wounded by it all.

Some friendships go on forever.

Carell as Doc is absolutely stunning and that’s the only word for it. There isn’t a lot of dialogue for his character but then again I wouldn’t expect there to be. Every emotion that pours out of Carell is heartbreaking and endearing in different ways. As a man who has lost a son, it isn’t the only thing he has lost in his life. There doesn’t seem to be a resentful bone in his body and even when he shows a moment of anger, it is justified.

Fishburne as Mueller is a Reverend who has embraced a different life. Once a wild Marine, he is now a settled man with a wife who holds him true to the collar he wears. There are moments where Fishburne completely lets loose and it sends the audience into fits of laughter. When he embraces his faith, he reaches out to Doc and shakes his head at Sal.

Cranston as Sal is completely out of control! He doesn’t like it when people play games, believes in shooting straight from the hip and doesn’t give a damn if he drinks from dusk till – well dusk again. Thrilled to be with his Vietnam buddy Doc, he is shocked to discover the life that Mueller chose after their time in war. He calls everything out, embraces the insanity of life and finds that he has been missing out once he gets his hands on a cell phone. As Carell is the emotion of the film and Fishburne is the spiritual guide, Cranston is all the chaos with no filter in between the two men and he rocks it from start to finish.

Johnson as Washington is a young soldier that is trying to do what is right both as Larry’s best friend and as a Marine. He gets to know Doc, Mueller and Sal which helps him understand so much more about being a soldier. Vazquez as Wilits is a man on his own mission who clearly doesn’t understand what being a parent is all about.

Other cast include Deanna Reed-Foster as Ruth, Graham Wolfe as John Redman, Jeff Monahan as O’Toole, Richard Robichaux as Anorak and an appearance by the wonderful Cicely Tyson.

LAST FLAG FLYING is an emotional roller coaster and I am not kidding. One minute the audience is laughing so hard they are crying to the next minute of crying so hard they can’t breathe. These three actors are so different yet in this film are perfection with the story they are telling.

The heartbreak that the character of Doc experiences can never be understood and I don’t think I could even try but that doesn’t stop us all of embracing every bit of his love, anger and laughter. Asking two men he hasn’t seen in 30 years to join him doesn’t require an explanation because I personally feel that all is revealed as it should be in the film.

One of the two best scenes of the film is when they are all in the back train car and the laughter is strangely contagious with Carell’s Doc having a laughing fit that had me in tears. The second is the scene as Sal convinces Mueller and Doc that it’s time to come to terms make that one event in Vietnam and make it right.

Of course I’m not being specific because the entire film is an experience that drains every emotion and I gave every bit of that willingly. LAST FLAG FLYING reminds us that war, no matter how many years in between changes young men that eventually become older men with regrets.

These three actors couldn’t have performed any better if they tried and LAST FLAG FLYING is beautifully told and excels in every way.

In the end – their last mission wasn’t on the battlefield.