IMDb RATING
6.3/10
15K
YOUR RATING
An aging widow from New York City follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of starting a new life after her husband passes away.An aging widow from New York City follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of starting a new life after her husband passes away.An aging widow from New York City follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of starting a new life after her husband passes away.
- Awards
- 6 nominations total
Tony Amendola
- Tony
- (as Anthony Amendola)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
I like Susan and Rose in this movie. In addition all the supporting cast was great. The script was well written, and the scenes were shot very well in order to tell the story. The music was also very complimentary to the narration. I also enjoyed recognizing a few locations from my numerous trips to Los Angeles. The Malibu Pier, and the Mall at Glendale were my favorites. I guarantee you will laugh, and maybe even cry a little. This is a must see movie for mothers and daughters. It might even help you with your relationship if you listen and pay attention. I will recommend this to my fiends and especially to the ladies and some mothers.
This movie is an astute portrayal of a mother's relationship with her daughter. The specificities and little details help the relationship feel real. Good character detail, and even though not a whole lot happens, it is overall a great dramedy.
I'm going to go against the grain here, but I think this is a charming little money that gives you a few laughs. It's essentially about a widow and mother who uses her money to help people she doesn't really know that well but who shes formed a connection with. It's not going to blow your mind but it's feel good...
Marnie (Susan Sarandon) lives an empty life after the death of her husband Joey. His death left her with more money than she needs. She moved from New York to L.A. to be close to her TV writer daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) and her grand-doggies. It's a struggle to fill her days and she is constantly trying to get into Lori's life. She's even going to Lori's therapist. Lori is suffering about her ex Jacob and from Marnie's meddling. Lori travels to New York. Marnie promises to pay for Lori's friend Jillian (Cecily Strong)'s wedding. She gives rides to Freddy from the Apple genius store. She volunteers at the hospital. Zipper (J.K. Simmons) is a retired cop working on a movie set that Marnie accidentally works onto.
This actually works better after Lori leaves town. Marnie's adventures are fun. Jillian's wedding feels a little Bridesmaids. There is an overload of funny women but it's fine. Jerrod Carmichael is a fun little appetizer but the main course is J.K. Simmons. I actually missed these characters when Marnie goes to New York. I would rather have an indie about Marnie with Jillian, Freddy, and Zipper. It's a bit depressing without them and I can only take so much.
This actually works better after Lori leaves town. Marnie's adventures are fun. Jillian's wedding feels a little Bridesmaids. There is an overload of funny women but it's fine. Jerrod Carmichael is a fun little appetizer but the main course is J.K. Simmons. I actually missed these characters when Marnie goes to New York. I would rather have an indie about Marnie with Jillian, Freddy, and Zipper. It's a bit depressing without them and I can only take so much.
A quarter of a century ago, Susan Sarandon co-starred in Thelma & Louise (1991), still ranked one of the best feminist movies of all time. It sits in the pantheon of cinema greats because of how it combined the finest traditions of storytelling and movie making, and over-arched it with powerful messages about important social issues. Since then, Sarandon's name has been associated with a string of high production-value movies and great entertainment. In this context of high expectations, The Meddler (2016) is a disappointingly mediocre story about an irritating mother who farcically acts-out suppressed grief trauma following her husband's death three years earlier.
Marnie (Susan Sarandon) is a widow desperately wanting to be relevant in other people's lives as a way to avoid dealing with her own. Her husband left her financially comfortable and she likes spending money on others, whether it's a bag of bagels or paying for the entire wedding of someone she barely knows. Her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) has relationship issues of her own and welcomes her meddling mother like a blowfly on a summer day. If that sounds like a thin storyline, several comic sketches flesh it out: like Marnie's serial visits to that helpful guy in the Apple Store; being "earth mother" for a lesbian couple's wedding; deciding what to do with her husband's ashes; and the teen-awkward steps towards starting a relationship with an ex-cop called Zipper. The 'world's most embarrassing mother' theme is squeezed for all its worth, but the endless texting, unanswered messages, and unannounced drop-ins are more wearying for viewers than for this mother-daughter duo. While buried grief lies somewhere in the deeper layers of this film, it is largely ignored or at best explored with casual superficiality.
Sarandon's acting repertoire means she can handle anything from slapstick to pathos, but she can only work with what she is given. It is a weak script, full of clichéd melodrama, tired gags, and feigned sentimentality. She is on-screen for most of the movie, staying in character as a constantly irritating person who is painfully lacking in self-awareness, or just not particularly bright. If it was directed as a serious drama, the central premise of the story might have led to a satisfying movie. But as a corny comedy, it denigrates the seriousness of its deeper themes and is more squirm-in- your-seat embarrassing than laugh-out-loud kind of funny. While this conclusion may speak against the critical grain, it comes from someone who still has Sarandon on a pedestal.
Marnie (Susan Sarandon) is a widow desperately wanting to be relevant in other people's lives as a way to avoid dealing with her own. Her husband left her financially comfortable and she likes spending money on others, whether it's a bag of bagels or paying for the entire wedding of someone she barely knows. Her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) has relationship issues of her own and welcomes her meddling mother like a blowfly on a summer day. If that sounds like a thin storyline, several comic sketches flesh it out: like Marnie's serial visits to that helpful guy in the Apple Store; being "earth mother" for a lesbian couple's wedding; deciding what to do with her husband's ashes; and the teen-awkward steps towards starting a relationship with an ex-cop called Zipper. The 'world's most embarrassing mother' theme is squeezed for all its worth, but the endless texting, unanswered messages, and unannounced drop-ins are more wearying for viewers than for this mother-daughter duo. While buried grief lies somewhere in the deeper layers of this film, it is largely ignored or at best explored with casual superficiality.
Sarandon's acting repertoire means she can handle anything from slapstick to pathos, but she can only work with what she is given. It is a weak script, full of clichéd melodrama, tired gags, and feigned sentimentality. She is on-screen for most of the movie, staying in character as a constantly irritating person who is painfully lacking in self-awareness, or just not particularly bright. If it was directed as a serious drama, the central premise of the story might have led to a satisfying movie. But as a corny comedy, it denigrates the seriousness of its deeper themes and is more squirm-in- your-seat embarrassing than laugh-out-loud kind of funny. While this conclusion may speak against the critical grain, it comes from someone who still has Sarandon on a pedestal.
Did you know
- TriviaThe house Marnie goes to baby sit at is the house from the original A Nightmare on Elm street
- GoofsA pocket veto can be overridden(not overruled) if Congress is in session.
- Quotes
Airport Security: How was your time in New York?
Marnie: Great. My daughter shot a pilot.
[He signals another security official to come over]
- SoundtracksI Was Here
Written by Diane Warren
Performed by Beyoncé
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- The Meddler
- Filming locations
- 1525 Valley Drive, Topanga, California, USA(Zipper's house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,267,218
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $57,022
- Apr 24, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $5,427,719
- Runtime
- 1h 43m(103 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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