Other People (2016)

Very disappointing...

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Overall good performance by all the actors. The first hour is fine however the film dragged on for far too long that i lost interests. If it can be edited down to 1 hour 20 min, it would be a better movie. Not too bad for a first movie. 3/10 from me. Worth a watch if you have the time and the mood for some depressing drama.

I made the decision to watch this because of the hype and talk of Molly Shannon's performance. She was undeniably powerful. However, Jesse Plemons also surprised me in his best performance yet. Incredibly authentic, heartfelt, and lived-in, it's him showing the kinds of dramatic chops that he has and he more than delivers. It's been great to see his transformation from his earlier roles and to see him gaining more and more prestige with the types of smart choices he has made in terms of roles. I cannot wait to see more from him. Overall, the film was very effective. It's simple, but its themes are timely and they hit really chose to home. Not as raw as last year's James White, but instead it has something else to offer.

Other People (2016/I) was written and directed by Chris Kelly. It stars Jesse Plemons as David, a young, gay, NYC comedy writer who is having the worst year imaginable. His mother is dying from a rare cancer, and he has broken up with his gay partner of five years. (Plemons is an very talented actor, who acts his role well.) David moves back home to Sacramento, to be with his family and help care for his mother. Molly Shannon portrays David's mother, Joanne. Joanne is clearly a wonderful person, attacked by a cruel illness that is taking her life rapidly and inexorably.David is an immense help to his mother as she moves back and forth between fighting the disease and giving in to the disease. Unfortunately, she loses either way. Joanne's struggle with cancer is really the core plot of the movie.The scene in which Joanne goes back to the elementary school where she was a teacher, and meets with her old friends, and with her replacement, is superb. It's worth watching the film for that scene alone. An important additional plot of the movie is that David's father will not accept the fact that his son is gay. He is willing to "debate it" with David. However, as David points out, there's really nothing to debate. He's gay, and that's the way it is.We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre as an opening night selection of Image Out, the outstanding 24th Annual LGBT festival. It will work well on the small screen. It's definitely worth seeking out and seeing.This film carries a terrible 6.1 rating from IMDb reviewers. This is a case where I say, "Did anyone else see the same movie that I saw?" Ignore the rating, see Other People, and judge for yourself.

If this were a bigger movie, Molly Shannon might soon be getting a few Big League nominations. She might anyway. Who expected Sally O'Malley to inhabit a fully formed married Sacramento mom of three older children, dying of cancer? Miss Shannon is funny and painful and riveting to watch as she shows us her love and rage and pride in her kids and worry about their future, and frustration with her failing body and nice clueless husband, and her wish to just sometimes give up and die already. It takes a deeply skilled actor to hide nothing, be still, and let the camera have it's way with you. Who knew? She gets a lot of help from Jesse Plemons as her struggling gay son David who is hurting from his own heavy baggage. Mr. Plemons' face is our guide to this family, not acting, just letting us tag along and marvel at his devotion to his sick Mom.A terrific young group of fun talented stars of tomorrow fill in the family and church and choir and other Sacramentoes and the likes of Paul Dooley, June Squibb, Bradley Whitford and an Apatow kid make Director Chris Kelly's already superb script better.Funny laugh out loud bits and great private one-on-ones that don't feel rushed. No sitcom feel or fake intimacy in Other People. These people matter to one another.Other People brought back for me those intimate moments in Carmela Soprano's kitchen when another complicated family was trying to have closeness and understanding at the dinner table. Aren't we all?