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ADOPTING AUDREY
Director: M. Cahill Cast: Jena Malone, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Emily Kuroda, Will Rogers, Brooke Bloom, Jillian Lindig, Lawrence Inglee MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:32 Release Date: 8/26/22 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 25, 2022 Adopting Audrey nearly gets by on the strength of its two central performances. The first is from Jena Malone as the aimless, lonely woman of the title. She has no friends. Her mother only seems to return to her calls to yell at her when Audrey doesn't answer. She works at a call center, but that job, like the six or seven that has had over the course of the past four years, doesn't last for long. Bills are due, and Audrey has no way of paying them. The electricity in the apartment she rents—and where she's also behind on said rent—is shut off, leaving Audrey to watch viral videos, usually of cute animals, on her phone in the dark (She charges the phone with a neighbor's outdoor outlet). It may seem bleak, but Audrey clearly has become used to such circumstances. Malone's performance is one of acceptance about this way of life. While that may go against the possibility of much conflict in director M. Cahill's screenplay, there's a bit of honesty in that state of almost contentment about the character. Things could be worse for Audrey, and she probably has known worse, if some cryptic dialogue about a boss suggesting she should be on medication for her mental health is any indication. She can handle this, though, and she does—with a smile and a plan. Her mind is also looking for a backup in case things go as wrong as they inevitably do, and beneath that beaming face and tinge of optimism, Malone also offers a hint of the pain that makes Audrey think she'll need that backup. The initial plan, which she devises after discovering some videos about the subject online, is to find a family looking to adopt an adult child. She's not doing this money or a place to stay. Audrey just wants that feeling, and after being rejected by a few potential parents, she meets with Sunny (Emily Kuroda), a re-married widow who doesn't have children of her own, and her husband Otto (Robert Hunger-Bühler), also a widower with two adult children (played by Will Rogers and Brooke Bloom) whom he neglected in favor of his career as an engineer at NASA. The second main performance is from Hunger-Bühler, as a no-nonsense man of few words, a curt and suspicious attitude, and a demanding and particular way of doing things. Now that he's retired, he mainly has time for regret. Cahill's story quickly becomes about the way to these two unlikely people form a quiet and tender bond. If Adopting Audrey skimps on the character details that might have clarified some things about these two in favor of some generic dysfunction and a string of complications, the subtle and sweet connection between Malone and Hunger-Bühler almost—but not quite—makes up for that. Copyright © 2022 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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