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HERE AND NOW
Director: Fabien Constant Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Simon Baker, Common, Jacqueline Bisset, Waleed Zuaiter, Gus Birney, Renée Zellweger, Taylor Kinney, Michael Potts, Mary Beth Peil MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:31 Release Date: 11/9/18 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 8, 2018 Just as she's about to celebrate the anniversary of a professional milestone and embark on a tour, jazz singer Vivienne (Sarah Jessica Parker) learns that she has a brain tumor. Even with treatment, her prospects don't hold much promise. At the beginning of Here and Now, Vivienne's doctor mentions a timeframe of 14 months. The rest of Vivienne's story takes place over the course of about 24 hours, as she tries to avoid the reality of what's in front of her but finds herself unable to do much of anything. There's a certain degree of authenticity to Laura Eason's screenplay, then, which doesn't offer scenes of tearful revelations, angry outcries at the cruelty of fate, or trying to put affairs in order. For Vivienne, preparing for the seemingly inevitable and going through the process of grief are for a later time. Right now, it's entirely about absorbing the shock of this terrible news and trying to avoid making it the center of her life—even if just for a day. Eason and director Fabien Constant capture that mood as Vivienne wanders between the people and the places that have been foundational to her life. She rehearses with her band, talks business with her manager Ben (Common), gets into an argument with and then tries to avoid her mother Jeanne (Jacqueline Bisset), and sets up a time that she can talk to her ex-husband Nick (Simon Baker), in order to figure out how to tell their daughter Lucie (Gus Birney). Along the way, she randomly encounters an old friend (played by Renée Zellweger), whose own life only seems to be on the up, and makes friends with a driver (played by Waleed Zuaiter), who gradually realizes that his difficult passenger is having a rough time. Dramatically, this material is intentionally static and staid, because it's as much about how Vivienne evades dealing with the news while she can as it is about dealing with the fact of the news. Parker's performance is effectively restrained, echoing the movie's tone. Ultimately, though, the filmmakers rely almost entirely on that mood. Here and Now doesn't give us much information about Vivienne, save for the basics, and as accurate as this portrayal of avoidance might be, it doesn't amount to much in terms of sympathizing with or understanding who Vivienne is and what she's experiencing. Copyright © 2018 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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