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by PAM
And we thought we've seen the last of Robert Redford and Jane Fonda on celluloid screen sometime back. But, no, it simply is not possible for these two to rest on their laurel, and watch time pass them by. They ventured into another film... not a masterpiece, alright, but it's able to spread the warmth that only brilliance in acting can do in a film buff's heart, that's for sure. The film is "Our Souls at Night", produced and distributed by Netflix in 2017. To date, it garnered 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 critics' review.
"I just want to live out my day
and then come to tell you about it at night."
While I am not a Netflix sort of a person... until recently, that is, I am thankful that films like this could be enjoyed with just a few clicks on one's laptop, or smart phone, and allow nostalgia to spread its warm blanket around one, especially when the nostalgic feels involve the glorious Sundance kid and the 'original workout queen', Barbarella.
The film is based on the novel of the same title by Kent Haruf, which I haven't read, so I can't really compare the film and the book. I just know that the film version's plot is very simple and straight-forward. It was about two lonely people of advanced age with tangled pasts that needed undoing, making sleep a bit troubled at night. Addie (Jane Fonda's character) boldly offered Louis (Robert Redford's character) to share her bed - in platonic company, to make sleep come easier, to which Louis agreed, albeit very reluctantly at first. Later, friendship developed... and love blossomed. The plot was easy enough to follow and rationalize... and the pace was good that, I'm sure, the audience can feel how the bond of friendship was slowly forming between Addie and Louis, and how affection started to precipitate from all the honesty of bearing their souls to each other at night, which eventually bloomed to love and loyalty to each other.
I'm not quite impressed with the quality of direction courtesy of Ritesh Batra, a young Indian film Director from Mumbai. I think that so much of Redford's and Fonda's genius in acting were not quite 'optimized'... those long shots, for instance, when the visibly ambivalent Addie came to Louis's home to make the 'sleeping together' proposal, did not help. Fonda obviously tried to conjure the perfect blend of courage, daring and weirdness that led her Addie to Louis's door to pop the odd 'proposal'. Considering that that was the 'trunk' from which all the interesting 'branches' of the story sprang from, it was weak and almost unremarkable. How I longed to see all the facial muscles and expressive eyes of these great actors convey the depth of their feelings... and emotions that the scene was so worthy of! The long shots wasted the supposed profundity of the scene and the incredible depth of the actors to lend the needed genius to make the scene something to celebrate about by film lovers in the many years to come. Batra missed the opportunity to make that happen, and it was almost heartbreaking! And yet, the Redford temper and self-control, conveyed so vividly through facial expressions that didn't need a single word, was so beautifully captured in that scene where his Louis was being made fun of by his men friends over the 'sleeping with Addie' gossips. His jaws just tightened... he sighed, stood up, and walked away - taking with him all that angst, a supposed perfect blow on one of his man friends' gloating face, and the eruption of bottled outburst to express protective instinct for and loyalty to Addie. Just genius!
Yes, if only to watch Redford and Fonda shine acting greatness, this film is so worth those 103 minutes of a film lover's life.
Review Summary: Go for it!
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Image credit: Screen capture from the IMDb website - thanks!
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