Clutter

I have seen a slew of films lately, mostly years after their first showing, and feel kind of lost in a time capsule. The men depicted all seem passive-aggressive and really tied emotionally to their mothers. Many of them have had to be surrogate husbands almost to their mothers, having had fathers who for one reason or another were not there. Most have pleasant memories of their fathers too, and the loss of him seems to spur a lot of future angst and soul searching. The same here. The mother was suffocating her little boy as she did everyone around her. I also am struck by how the image of reality we are told to have is not how people really are. People drink, do drugs, curse, are slovenly, rude etc. and social status has nothing to do with it. The drunken uncle, the whorish aunt, the lout of a grandpa - we all have them and yet, we pretend that we don't. We hurt each other too - a lot. Movies like this show how frustrating it can be to look from the outside while sharing so much of their experience.

Clutter: 6 out of 10: Carol Kane plays a mother with both a hoarding problem and three children who can not seem to get on with their adult lives.

The Good: Any movie with Carol Kane and Dan Hedaya (both are excellent by the way) is going to be worth a watch. Throw in one of my favorite reality show topics (hoarding) and you have a surefire winner. The only way they could screw this up is where the main character is a thirtysomething adult male filmmaker who can leave his mother's apron and move on with adult life.

The Bad: No points in guessing what the main character is. Joshua Leonard isn't awful in the role but good lord would someone please kill this trope with fire. I rarely watch "indie" films of this type and I am tired of it. I can't imagine how regular indie movie viewer feels.

The other two siblings are also well acted in fact everyone in the film is good. But nothing really happens. I am not just talking about the overall plot or so-called character growth. Don't get me wrong everyone has their moment to shine. Everyone gets a little charter arc to play in. There are even cute touches like a religious image appearing on the families garage door. It just feels like much ado about nothing. Barely employed adult children living with their mother make for depressing protagonists.

The Ugly: There is a family dinner in the middle of the film where we are supposed to root for Mama Kane and her adult children. The movie wears its heart on its sleeve. Am I really that wrong to be rooting for the bad guys here?

In Conclusion: Dan Hedaya what is your secret. You look better than you did in the eighties. I overall enjoyed the film though I wouldn't rush out to recommend it. The three adult children remind me of the three adult children from the series Transparent. They are not nearly as horrible as those children mind you but they still left me that non-flying the nest millennial PTSD these films seem to generate in me.

Carol Kane is great as usual, adding a dimension to her character beyond the comic. The younger actors are also well-chosen and they deliver. I was very surprised to see no reviews. If you're on the fence about this one, choose to see it. Expect a typical indie family drama. Expect to be amused. Downbeat ending didn't seem to have enough fore-shadowing. I liked this movie enough to defend it. Well worth your time. I will repeat to fill up the 10 required lines: Carol Kane is great as usual, adding a dimension to her character beyond the comic. The younger actors are also well-chosen and they deliver. I was very surprised to see no reviews. If you're on the fence about this one, choose to see it. Expect a typical indie family drama. Expect to be amused. Downbeat ending didn't seem to have enough fore-shadowing. I liked this movie enough to defend it. Well worth your time.