Immer noch Liebe!

Fortunately, I saw the preview recently in Tokyo. That was great. You should see this. When you see the press conference (Q & A) after the Toronto Film Festival, you can understand that the actors (Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn and etc) and the young director Nicholas Fackler trusted entirely each other. The actors were fascinated by Nik's talent. They realized his genius potentials into the marvelous work. I was amazed at how such a young (at age of of 23) "student" could have directed this excellent movie. Therefore, it is too bad that this movie is, so far, ignored by major studios and distributors in the US.

Quite the dark horse of Christmas movies. I think it would have been enough to have an intimate film about an older couple meeting for the first time. This goes well beyond that, but talking about it would be a significant spoiler. It is endearing, funny, and quite quirky at times. Puzzling at first, before settling in. All of it comes into focus near the end, when the strangeness makes much more sense, and the message goes far beyond the typical holiday cheer and that love is everyone.

It's not perfect though. There are one or two things that actually never become situated and so there is no closure. This kind of hand waving is a pet peeve of mine. Especially when so much of it could be explained easily and in a short amount of time.

I am both a Martin Landau and an Ellen Burstyn fan, so I was especially looking forward to seeing them act. I expected formidable acting muscle, sparks, confrontations: things befitting their Actor's Studio origins. What instead greeted me was a Landau so frail and docile...and frightened. His character, Robert Malone, is a man who treads warily and uneasily through life. He is a single man, and we assume he has simply been unlucky in love. Burstyn is the loving, open-hearted, yet lonely, woman who sweeps into his life one Christmas and changes it forever. One thing about Landau in this film: the actor looks shockingly aged, and I'm sure this has been deliberately used by both the filmmaker and Landau himself as a sort of effect to win us over to sympathy for Malone. Yet I had no doubt that this is a consummate performance. Landau, in life, is likely vital and engaged whereas Robert Malone, as I have said, seems on the brink of terror nearly every moment of his day. (The "wakeup" sequences are especially effective conveying this.) The love story plays out in an even-handed way. Underneath this blossoming love, of course, is the shadow of mortality. There occurs--over two-thirds into the film--a dramatic event that I won't reveal or spoil, but it causes the viewer to look back over events that occurred and reflect on them...in a rewarding way. The drama is never cheap nor unjustified. I come away with satisfaction and admiration for the unexpected performances, for the tender core of the film, and for a fresh perspective on the elderly that is anything but cloying or cliché. This movie is in fact--particularly with the presence of Death hanging over events (as another character in the film)--as gripping and occasionally breathless as any thriller.

I never thought of this in such a way. I can only assume this is how life truly is for a person under these circumstances. Totally unexpected. A little slow in places but I loved it. I bawled like a baby.

"Lovely, Still" is a story of discovering love late in life. It has the potential of being schmaltzy like the similar "Letters to Juliet" (2010), but it manages to avoid that trap and displays much more honest emotion like "Away From Her" (2006).

Martin Landau is the oft-confused and bewildered Robert who quickly falls in love with the more out-going Mary (Ellen Burstyn). The supporting characters were particularly well crafted. I enjoyed Adam Scott as Mike, Robert's boss and friend, and Elizabeth Banks as Alex, Mary's daughter.

Set during the holiday season, "Lovely, Still" is charming and amorous. Recommended for fans of the genre.