On the short list for worst title of the year, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them suggests a spinster fading away without hurrah. Instead, it’s a film about a relationship destroyed by tragedy. Is this a hint? Is this how Eleanor Rigby became Eleanor Rigby? Seems wrong to me – the song suggests an old maid unconsidered, unaccompanied and unloved reflective of an ever growing number of societal nonentities in an alienating universe. This Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain) has a pretty good network of loved ones and people who want her around.
The irony? Tragedies are often alienating. Many find that suffering a great trauma by itself can lead to isolation and pariahdom. Don’t question me on this point; I know exactly of what I speak. Writer/director Ned Benson could easily have given this fate to Eleanor, but chose another route.
Conor (James McAvoy) and Eleanor get a full five seconds of bliss dining and ditching to start the film. Maybe the film felt it owed them the illusion of happiness. Tragedy aside, trouble is coming, folks. People who dine and ditch? Not ready to be adults. And almost certainly, money troubles will follow at some point. But forget that stuff – next thing Eleanor is throwing herself off the Brooklyn Bridge. When she emerges from the hospital, she’s taken to her childhood home. Without knowing what set off the suicide attempt, I found this part awful in and of itself – Jessica Chastain looks about 40 in this film — with the depressing eye makeup, possibly even older. She’s too old to live at home. She’s too old to pretend she can just start over. I’m sure this was part of the film’s message, but it sat poorly with me.
Meanwhile, in another story, Conor is a failed restaurateur. His best friend and head chef (Bill Hader) is phoning it in; he gets in fistfights with the two customers he has and he has no idea where Eleanor went. And when he finds out, he stalks her. That seemed creepy until the film told us they were married. Married?! Then why did she return home?! OK. Guess I’ll be patient. But, and I’m saying this as a general rule, you kinda do have a right to stalk your wife if she never comes home.
The point to all of this is how one unimaginable awful (never described in detail here, btw) can destroy lives, rend hearts and relationships, and basically depress any who touch – this is why your friends and family sometimes stay away when ugliness occurs. Conor’s business fails as well, of course
, causing him to swallow pride and move back home as well. When it rains, it pours. There is something right about all of this. Fairness says life ought to balance, but it seems fitting that a man who undergoes the worst event of his entire life should find all unattached peripherals crumbling as well – would it make sense that his business is booming at this stage in his life and career? I think not.
Most of Disappearance is about being lost. What do you do when your dreams die? How do you proceed? Truth is nobody knows and nobody ought to. Humans are hopeful by nature for good reason. Is the vacancy in direction enough to build a film around? I don’t think so, but then I only enjoy visiting personal horror on my terms.
Apparently, Disappearance is three different films – one follows Him; one follows Her. I got Them. I can’t believe any one of these efforts was good enough to see more than once. While I’m a sucker for tragic romance, I’m not for tragic post-romance. Speaking of which, Disappearance feels, start-to-finish, like Part II of a trilogy in which Parts I and III were both fluffy romances ending that Natalie Cole song. While I wasn’t wild about Part II, I might like to see Part III provided Jessica cools it on the mascara.
♪Ah, look at both the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby picks up the pieces of life where joyful was there
Lives a nightmare
Conor the stalker, has no idea how to proceed with daily life
Where is his wife?
Both these lonely people
Have to move back in with dad
Both these lonely people
Is it tragic or just sad? ♫
Rated R, 122 Minutes
D: Ned Benson
W: Ned Benson
Genre: The tragedy of life
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Folks who have seen some heartache
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Pollyannas
♪ Parody inspired by “Eleanor Rigby”
