Gloria Bell

If you are under 25 you may not "get" this movie but once you have experienced more of life this movie will certainly have more meaning. And in the future when you talk about this, and you will, do be kind!

Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore) is a middle-aged divorcée in Los Angeles. She spends her days at her job, with her friends and her family, and dealing with a hairless cat and a disturbed neighbor. She spends her nights dancing at a nightclub with other older club goers. One night, she meets Arnold (John Turturro).

This is a remake of a Chilean film. The style is a matter of fact, slice of life story of a simple older woman. It has some docu-style flair. When she has the one night stand with Arnold, it's fine for her to know nothing about him. As she gets into a relationship, the movie needs to do some exposition with his life. I may have missed it but she needs to have a deep discussion about his relationships. This movie has a lot unspoken but his personal life cannot be one of them. He can lie about it but she can't not ask him about it. Turturro is obviously disturbed somehow and she's avoiding it. There are little things that rang wrong. I don't like her son questioning her where she found Arnold. It's an inquisition when he should be supportive. He could rail against him but he can't accuse her. It's a written line to point a finger at her when her son would unlikely do that in reality. Otherwise, it's a great portrait of an older woman. The tension is lessened by looking away from the drama.

I almost did not watch this film as a result of all the bad reviews. However, I can relate to this storyline after dating many men with baggage such as insecurities, adult children who are still depending on them financially, and men who do not know how to communicate their feelings. Ladies, if you have experienced dating this type of man, watch this flick. You will appreciate it. Moreover, you will enjoy Julianne Moore's character. She played this woman so well!

Gloria is a fifty-something long-term divorcée, with two grown-up children and with a subdued professional life. She's even a young granny since a short time. In short, all lights are red. It's only missing menopause... And then arrives Arnold, a charming guy who turns out to be stuck within a castrating environment. This film is desperately pessimistic, despite the manifold disco hits, and reminds the universal difficulty of 'rebuilding' its life, following a divorce with child(ren). The duo Julianne Moore + John Turturro is stunning, knowing that Julianne Moore is gorgeous, as usual.

Sebastian Lelió returns to remake one of his own films in this breezy and free-spirited comedy. While not perfect, it's an enjoyable movie that first and foremost functions as a character study. Moore plays the titular role, a divorcee in her 50's living in California and attempting to break out of her shell. The film is properly paced and never feels too long or too short. Its script is simple yet subversive, eventually creating an impact on the viewer that will have them thinking long after the credits roll. The film's acting is consistently strong, especially Julianne Moore. She's terrific, and manages to convey both a genuine sense of intuition and a vivacious sense of loving life at the same time. Also noteworthy is John Tuturro in the film's most prominent supporting part. He manages to play his role with a simple gravitas that helps viewers inspect the subtleties behind his character's development. Speaking of character development, the lack of development of Moore's character by standards of a character study is a slight flaw in this movie. While we spend so much time with Moore over the film's duration and see much of her day-to-day life, this does not necessarily equate to character development. Quality character development, after all, is about connecting the past of a character to his or her present and future.

The film also has some moments that feel mildly redundant from time to time. It feels in these moments that Lelió wanted to connect some of the fibers of the plot together to increase significance of the juxtaposition of several scenes, but unfortunately he ends up missing the mark attempting that. However, this is overall an entertaining dramedy for those of us who like the cast. It's not too complex at face value, but is definitely entertaining for the most part. And the soundtrack (an eclectic mix of classic disco tunes) can't be beat either. Recommended. 7/10