A Sondheim musical rolls on screen

 

Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along premiered on Broadway in 1981. The show ran for a mere 16 performances, a shocking failure for any Sondheim work. The musical evidently evolved through the years, returning to the Broadway stage in 2023. In its new incarnation, Merrily received strongly positive reviews, earned four Tony Awards, and ran at Broadway's Hudson Theater for about a year. Now, the show's director, Maria Friedman, has offered a filmed version of the revamped musical. Still best known as the original Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe boosts name recognition in an energetic production. Radcliffe plays half of a showbiz duo, a lyricist whose career is linked to a successful composer played by Jonathan Groff. Based on a play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Merrily tells its story in backward order, focusing mainly on Groff's character and two friends who have been with him from the start. In addition to Radcliffe, the trio of pals includes Lindsay Mendez, a critic who harbors a not-so-secret love for Groff’s Frank.  Aside from employing close-ups, Friedman highlights the energy of the stage production, filmed with an audience that can be heard applauding at the appropriate times. Friedman obtains strong performances from the principal cast and from Krystal Joy Brown, as the Broadway star who breaks up Groff's marriage to Beth (an equally good Katie Rose Clarke). Serving mostly as a filmed record of the Broadway hit, Merrily We Roll Along should appeal to Sondheim fans. Others may find its two-and-a-half-hour run time a bit taxing, and a segment that tries for political satire seems dated. Had Merrily We Roll Along not been made into a film, I probably never would have seen it. For people such as me that may be the film’s biggest virtue. 

Bob's Cinema Notebook: 'Jay Kelly' and 'Left-handed Girl'

A movie star with problems 

When I first read about Jay Kelly, I thought, “Who better to play aging movie star Jay Kelly than George Clooney? And for seasoning, why not cast Adam Sandler as Ron, Jay's devoted manager and longtime fixer? If the movie assesses the cost of stardom, so much the better.  But for me, director Noah Baumbach's latest proved a disappointing immersion in the life of a big-time star whose ambitions have marred the lives of others. Following a run-in with a roommate (Billy Crudup) from his early days in LA, Jay decides to bail on an upcoming feature and follow his college-bound daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) to Europe. After years of prioritizing his career, Jay wants to strengthen his bond with Daisy, even if she’s not all that eager to reciprocate. Jay uses the offer of a career tribute in Tuscany as an excuse to make the trip. Jay's entourage (Laura Dern and Emily Mortimer are part of his traveling circus) dutifully tags along — until they've had enough. Clooney's relaxed, low-key stardom is outdone by Sandler, who scores as a devoted, slightly sad guy who realizes that his loyalty is a one-way street. Ron isn't entirely ungrateful, though: He knows that he’s built a life taking 15 percent of Jay’s earnings. Jay's oldest daughter (Riley Keough) turns up in scenes that expose the actor's parenting failures. When a star plays a star, it can put an unfair burden on both actor and audience to figure out where one begins and the other leaves off. That aside, I never felt as if I were being taken inside Hollywood but inside an idea for a movie that didn't match Baumbach's best work: For me, that would be  Marriage Story (2019), The Squid and the Whale (2005), and Frances Ha (2012).

Left-Handed Girl Gets it Right

Set in Taipei, Left-Handed Girl, a family drama full of twists and hidden agendas, operates on a welcome human scale. Single mom She-Fen (Janel Tsai) returns to Taipei with her two daughters after a long absence. The teenage I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma) bristles with adolescent anger. I-Jing (Nina Ye) --a cute five-year-old --  has already learned how to win others over. Mom works in a night market and struggles to make ends meet. To help with expenses, I-Ann dresses in a sexy outfit to hawk betel nuts for her young boss -- with whom she'll have a disastrous fling. Among I-Ann’s complaints: She fumes because her mother has agreed to pay for her ailing husband's funeral. He deserted the family a decade ago, leaving Mom with piles of debt. For her part, I-Jing begins a stealth career as a shoplifter, blaming her larceny on her cursed left hand. Her sourpuss of a grandfather (Akio Chen) filled her head with superstitions: The left hand is evil, he thinks. Almost everyone in the film hustles. Grandma (Xin-Yan Chao), for example, is caught up in a scheme involving immigrants. Just when it looks as if the plot will resolve neatly, director Shih-Ching Ching brings the characters to Grandma's 60th birthday party. There, emotional storms erupt, and shocking revelations emerge. Shot with iPhones, Left-Handed Girl teems with city life: You finish feeling as though you've learned something about how people -- especially those who struggle -- live in a bustling city where keeping one's head above water isn't easy.

An additional note:

*I love movies full of characters that feel as if they might exist off screen. Equally important, I admire movies that provide a real sense of how life is lived in a specific place. I'd put Left-Handed Girl in this category. The film has a plot, which, by necessity, means contrivance can’t totally be avoided. But the plot never overpowers the characters; the story feels like something they're living. To be clear, films such as this aren't the only kind that move me. But films that effectively embrace both individual and social realities hold a special place in my heart.