Movies don’t cover sadness as much as they should. Sadness doesn’t sell, and yet it’s a part of every human life. It can’t not be. If you have never or can never experience sadness, something might be wrong. The somber or morose are, however, oft as ignored on celluloid as they are in real life. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer or even a Debbie Does Dallas Downer.
Which isn’t to say you should enjoy this film. You shouldn’t … even if you’re into the raincloud life. I am here to say this is a subject that probably should get more play if for no other reason than so we don’t have to extract it from weak avian metaphors.
The Maynards are a sad couple. They have good reason to be sad: they had a baby; they lost a baby. No parent should outlive their child, but it happens. It sucks, but it happens. The Maynards now have next-level sadness, where a family tragedy is compounded by separation. Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) is at home by herself. Jack (Chris O’Dowd) proved suicidal in the wake and now lives at a mental hospital. I can’t decide whom I feel for more. I suppose it doesn’t matter. Suffice to say months have passed, but neither parent is ready to join the living quite yet.
Looking for a way to occupy her time and her sanity, Lilly attacks her redneckified front yard. And when she does, a local bird, The Starling, takes umbrage. Have you ever been attacked by a non-predatory bird? I find it
more startling than anything else. Lilly doesn’t like it at all and attacks back.
Now I don’t want to tell you how to handle your grief, but throwing rocks at birds is something a five-year-old with no concept of death does. Lilly really tries to kill the bird, which seems absolutely anathema to her own sadness. As I say, I can’t tell you how to handle your grief, but that one seems wrong. After Lilly is successful (!), she has remorse, obviously. Luckily, her shrink Dr. Fine (Kevin Kline) is also the local vet. Why,she can kill two birds with one stone. (And if you think I didn’t say that on purpose, you just don’t know me.)
The Starling paints itself as a sweet little “life goes on” nothing of a film. If you have a heart, you’ll likely shed a tear or two. I wish that were the only criteria to evaluate such a film, but it isn’t. While I felt for both adult Maynards, I cannot say really enjoyed either of them, and Lilly’s actions toward the titular bird combined with Jack’s perceived selfishness were both very off-putting. I won’t say these leads belong only in comedies; quite the contrary – but the comedic here is so overwhelmed by the tragic that it’s hard to enjoy either the comedic or the dramatic acting in this film. I feel for your pain, but I don’t for your movie.
No poem today
Hell is replete with those glib
About infant death
Rated PG-13, 102 Minutes
Director: Theodore Melfi
Writer: Matt Harris
Genre: Metaphors of melancholy
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The easily manipulated
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The forever bitter
