I'll Be Right There

Just saw this at Annapolis Film Festival and want to watch again immediately. This intelligent, witty, and pitch-perfect character study follows Wanda (Edie Falco), a woman who will drop everything to help out a family member... And lately, they just all seem to need way too much help. The title, "I'll Be Right There" perfectly sums up her character. Impressively, the film does not seek to reduce this type of person, and we all know someone like this, or ARE this person.

This film will give you a lot to reflect on, no matter where you fall on the scale of being a 'Giver' (If you're a 10, chances are you're not only neglecting yourself but also enabling bad behavior and making other people more dependent on you... If you're a 1, chances are you are so afraid of getting used that your relationships suffer).

This is a movie for adults, putting this question of "How much helping is too much?" at center stage. Edie Falco makes you feel the exhaustion and the worry, and keeps the audience from judging her choices, which constantly surprise. She is not an idea. Her character has layers of specificity and many sides that aren't apparent right from the start. This kind of storytelling is a delicate soufflé - and it flies in the face of a lot of pressure for screenwriters to amp up conflict and and give the audience big emotional signposts.

Based on reading the summary, I was expecting a different kind of film, one that had an agenda to criticize this kind of helicopter parenting and the way it can yield floundering, helpless adult children.

This is certainly a subtext of the story - How does Wanda's enabling behavior affect those around her? But Jim Beggarly's script in the hands of director Brendan Walsh has so much more on it's mind.

There were times early on where I felt resltess - "Where is this movie going?" A few scenes, including an amazing monologue by Jeannie Berlin as Wanda's mother, seem take their time and don't have a clear impact on the scenes that follow. By the end, it's clear that every lived-in moment, all the random details of Wanda's chaotic week, have created a tapestry so rich that it invites true reflection of very adult problems that we often never vocalize to people around us, even though they are central to our daily ups and downs.

I can imagine some people having life-changing conversations if they were to watch this movie with a sibling, a parent, or their own adult children.

Truly sublime filmmaking. It doesn't announce itself as important, or push buttons to get your emotions flowing. I hope it finds a devoted fans regardless. I count myself as one.

Saw this at the 2024 Annapolis Film Festival. First time attending a film festival.

Appreciated this snippet from the program:

"We go to the movies to be entertained, educated, thrilled, horrified, to laugh or to cry and importantly, enjoy a respite away from our face-paced world"

This new favorite comfort movie of mine. It is incredibly charming and full with love. I really hope this gets a respectable theatrical release so I can show my mom. Really fun experience attending my first ever film festival. Thank you, Annapolis Film Festival.

Also, something cool-I sat in the row directly in front of Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco).

Edie Falco? Star. Charlie Tahan? Star. Jeannie Berlin? C'mon. Everything that you'd want from a heart-warming story-line filled with comedy AND more.

Wanda (Edie Falco) is always there for her needy family. Her mother is diagnosed with leukemia but unlikely to die from it. Her pregnant daughter is getting married, but her ex-husband is withdrawing his half of the money. Her son keeps complaining about her to his therapist who promptly quits on him. Her family keeps calling on her and she keeps answering.

The movie could do something more to drive the drama and narrative. In many ways, Wanda is just moving from one scene to another and they are all essentially the same. She is being burdened with everybody else's problems. It's a little funny but repetitive. This may work better if she is running around all day preparing for the wedding. That would allow the story to have a cohesive plotline. More than anything, this shows Edie's great acting abilities in doing simple work.

In wonderfully warm blue-collar drama "I'll Be Right There" middle-aged mum Edie Falco struggles under the weight of constantly running around her NY-state small-town after her mum (Jeannie Berlin) and her two young-adult kids (Kayli Carter & Charlie Tahan) that ex-hubbie Bradley Whitford's no help with. She's also juggling romantic relationships with Michael Rapaport (always great), Sepideh Moafi, and maybe even Michael Beach... it's all a bit much! Thru Falco's terrific performance, Jim Beggarly's pitch-perfect screenplay, & Brendan Walsh's rich direction, it is a gentle triumph - but will probably become a largely undiscovered gem. Discover it - it rocks.

This is a family drama with much humor. IMDb page doesn't specify where it was filmed but in one street scene we see the sign for "Quinn Podiatry" and that is in Pearl River, NY, just near the NY/NJ state line. And, I suppose, in other smaller communities in NJ and NY just upstream from New York city.

The cast contain a number of good, experienced actors and each creates an interesting character. The story revolves around Edie Falco as Wanda. She works as a bookkeeper for several small businesses in her area.

She has a pregnant daughter who is planning her wedding. She has a young adult son who never seems to be on a good track in life. Trouble seems to follow him.

She also has an ex-husband who, with his new family, may not be able to pay half of their daughter's wedding. Plus she is being pursued romantically by two different people, a man and a woman.

In essence the whole story is about Wanda coming to grips with her own life and happiness and it is a good ride.

My wife and I watched it at home, after our usual Saturday evening steak and red wine dinner, streaming on Peacock.