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THE CHAPERONE (2019)
Director: Michael Engler Cast: Elizabeth McGovern, Haley Lu Richardson, Géza Röhrig, Campbell Scott, Robert Fairchild, Blythe Danner, Victoria Hill, Miranda Otto, Matt McGrath MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:43 Release Date: 3/29/19 (limited); 4/12/19 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 11, 2019 The fictionalized Norma (Elizabeth McGovern), an older woman who accompanies a not-yet-famous Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) on a trip to New York City, exists as the last grasp of traditional gender norms, before the future movie star's generation openly challenges them. That seems to be the point of the character in The Chaperone, a speculative biography that dares to care less about a historically noteworthy character in favor of an ordinary one. That move is always a gamble in terms of storytelling. The risk is that, since the audience is automatically more interested in the person whose name we already know, the salt-of-the-earth character will seem like a bit player in his or her own story. Julian Fellowes' screenplay (based on Laura Moriarty's novel) does a lot to ensure that Norma remains both the focal point and thematic center of this tale, but by the end, the movie itself doesn't even seem too convinced of its main character's significance. Norma volunteers to take Louise from Wichita to New York, where the teenager will take dance classes. Norma is comparatively more modern than her peers, but even so, the generational and cultural gap between her and her charge is wide. While Louise seems set to become a member of a prestigious dance company and rebels against her chaperone, Norma, who was left at an orphanage at a young age, starts searching for her actual identity. Norma is presented as overbearing with Louise, who wants to date and party despite her chaperone's objections, and desperate for meaning on her own. When it's not about the relationship between the two women, which really seems to be at the core of its point about natural societal change, the story reveals Norma's past from childhood until she learns of her husband Alan's (Campbell Scott) secret life, which has made her question her sense of self. All the while, she starts falling for Joseph (Géza Röhrig), who works at the orphanage where Norma spent part of her childhood. The ultimate point is obvious: Society—or, in more tangible terms, what other people think—can get in the way of a person's own sense of meaning and happiness. The Chaperone makes that clear and easy enough to accept, but it's a long road to state the obvious—and one that, in the end, can't quite decide whose story is more important. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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