Grief and a lie in ‘Eleanor the Great’

 

June Squibb is 95 and still acting, a notable achievement in and of itself. In her first directorial outing, Scarlett  Johansson casts Squibb as the title character in Eleanor the Great, a movie about an aging Jewish woman who moves from Florida to New York when her longtime roommate (Rita Zohar) passes away. In New York, Squibb's Eleanor takes up residence with her daughter (Jessica Hecht) and grandson (Will Price). Tory Kamen's screenplay contrives to have Eleanor join a Holocaust survivor's group at a Manhattan JCC. Perhaps sensing Eleanor's isolation, a survivor invites her to participate. The twist: Eleanor isn't a Holocaust survivor. Posing as one, she tells the story of her roommate, a woman scarred by Holocaust experiences. Concocting a lie about the holocaust gives the movie a sour taste that can work against the empathy it tries to build. Though brief, Zohar's performance proves a standout, but the movie works its way toward a resolution that struggles to explain Eleanor's behavior when her lie takes on a life of its own. The plot hinges on a connection Eleanor makes with an NYU journalism student (Erin Kellyman), who's grieving the recent death of her mother. She's also trying to break through the resistance of her father (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a TV personality who won't discuss his grief. The actors do their best to convey the required sensitivity, and the movie's small moments are well-played. Still, contrivances and a strained conclusion didn't convince me that the subject matter -- the seriousness of Eleanor's ruse -- had been given enough weight.*

*I've been having difficulty with the spellcheck on this app, which insists on changing names to one's it finds more recognizable. That was the case in an early posting of this review. From now on, I will double check the postings to make sure that this hasn't happened. And thanks to those who have pointed these errors out to me.