A Short History of Decay

I'm not sure what to make of this movie. It was on the edge of being really good, but it never quite made it. That's not to say there weren't some really good things going on. The actors and their characters were good - some quite good. I really enjoyed Linda Lavin, Harris Yulin, and Kathleen Rose Perkins roles in this. The characters were well done and they actors did very credible jobs. Greenberg's character was on the weaker side - it felt like some depth would eventually come out, but nope. King as the brother was fair. Chriqui as the ex-girlfriend did a credible job, and the character was good in the beginning, and quite believable, but at the end lost any semblance of interest - and what did she do anyway? We heard law, then she appeared to be an admin, then she's writing novels? The worst character was Alex (played by Rebecca Dayan - the actress was fine, but the character was pointless). What was the point? I understood where she could have fit in, but in a movie where the plot never materialized, another subplot that went nowhere even faster was not helpful. Kind of like the artist with the painting. There was a sense that that was somehow important, but it never went anywhere.

The real drawback was the story. It never really went anywhere. Of course, it appears that it never really planned to, but the viewer is left a bit let down that nothing ever happened. At least it could have let us see Greenberg's character start writing, or doing anything to justify watching him for this long. In reality, the story just showed a lot of metaphorical decays. The obvious ones were the mother and father, literally every character's life (except maybe the Irish nurse...), the car, Greenberg's relationship, King's family, Perkins career (it seems the assumption is that she gave up her education and career to take over her dying aunt's salon), Greenberg's writing career, etc. But, within the decay, there were signs of recovery - but these seemed accidental rather than planned, and there weren't enough.

Each of these bits was well done, but there wasn't a coalescence into anything specific. Maybe that was the plan for the story. It just kind of has everything there in existence as the viewer passes through. I guess the message is that everything decays, and some things recover and some don't.

I enjoyed it, and wanted it to do more. In the end it's hard to get emotionally invested. OK to spend 90 minutes, but don't expect too much and you may have a good time.

A quietly elegant little movie (because it refuses to push anything) about family and the finale of the older generation, A SHORT HISTORY OF DECAY, written and directed by first-timer Michael Maren, is a beautifully rendered piece of Americana as it exists today, mid economic (and most every other kind of) decline. And yet this movie is not actually depressing. Oddly enough, it is simply too plain and too real for that. It accepts what is and must be (even if its characters have some difficulty doing so) and therefore liberates us, the audience, to look upon reality and understand it.

Mr. Maren, shown at left, is no spring chicken; his career and interests prior to filmmaking seem to have groomed him to look at life and people and events with a dry, incisive eye. Along the way in this movie, and without making any big thing of it, he quietly nails odd moments of family behavior, sibling (and spousal) rivalry, right through to that instant in which our near-hero sees an attractive woman on the beach and a moment later we realize that it's his aging mother -- mistook or maybe remembered from a much earlier time. You don't get this kind of stuff in most American independent movies, and certainly not served up as well and in such unshowy fashion.

We begin in the ever more gentrified Brooklyn, in which our slacker leading man, Nathan (the first-rate Bryan Greenberg, above), less a failed writer than one who has simply never finished anything, begins a morning dispute with his significant other, Erika (Emmanuelle Chriqui, below), a high-powered woman with a first novel about be published. How this scene ends is both funny and surprising.

An unexpected phone call regarding his parents sends Nathan down to Florida, to mom (Linda Lavin, below, right), dad (Harris Yulin, below, left) and -- eventually -- older brother (Benjamin King), where, of course, family history, along with past and present problems bubble up and spill over. Aging, Alzheimer's, stroke, money problems, love and lust jockey for position, but Maren never lets any one thing take the lead for long. He juggles character and events with consummate skill, balancing the comedy of life with its inevitable tragedy -- and shows us a lot of the interesting moments in between.

You might call the film a kind of comedy, but it's so quiet and unforced that you'll smile more readily than laugh out loud. The drama is certainly there, yet it's so unforced that it never for a moment becomes melodrama. Characters are written and acted very well by the entire ensemble cast -- which includes a lovely, radiant and savvy Kathleen Rose Perkins (below) as mom's manicurist; a hot, svelte Rebecca Dayan as the young lady Nathan meets at a local bar/restaurant; and Barbara Weetman as the smart, if slightly pushy bartender.

What is especially remarkable here is how clever are the performers, together with their writer/director, in never going too far. They behave, rather than "act." Less is more has rarely proved so enjoyable or so on-the-mark.

Watching the movie does not make one feel that they are viewing a make believe world. The director has successfully narrated the story while keeping it both realistic as well as comical. The acting of all actors is excellent. In fact getting in non-blockbuster stars has worked to the advantage of the movie as one feels more relatable to the characters and situation. Waiting for future work by this director.

"A Short History of Decay" is a funny, heartbreaking glimpse into our aging, our loves and our losses. There are so many touching moments that have stayed with me - the two grown brothers, sharing their childhood room, who have a fistfight and their mother tells them to settle down, the parents having a party with the mother's manicurist, the painting that Nathan hangs in his parents apartment. At the same time I found myself drawn to the painful portrait of the judgmental father whose sons continue to disappoint him. Beautiful and funny performances by Linda Lavin and Harris Yulin, and a wonderfully drawn sympathetic son, Bryan Greenberg. I think this film will be seen the way "The Squid and The Whale" has been seen – as an iconic look at an ordinary family.

Boring. Plain. Not comedy at all. Nothing smart, nothing funny, nothing to keep you awake while watching. Just wasted time.