The Leisure Seeker (2017)
Directed by Paolo
Virzi
Sony Picture
Classics, 112 minutes, R (language, elder sex)
★★★
The Leisure Seeker
is a comedy/romance/drama constructed around a road trip by a couple that knows
that the Golden Years are about to become Lights Out for Eternity. It follows
the sojourn of John and Ella Spencer (Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren) as
they wend their way from suburban Boston to Key West in a 1975 Winnebago long
ago christened the “Leisure Seeker” by the couple’s now adult children, Will
(Christian McKay) and Jane (Janel Moloney).
Director Paolo Virzi has a tough balancing act. How does one
make a film about elderly people, especially when one of them (John) has
Alzheimer’s, yet keep it lighthearted enough to interest an audience, but
serious enough to not be insulting? It may not be possible to do so, but give
Virzi credit for striking quite a few correct notes amidst the discordant ones.
Give this one some time, as it doesn’t start well. John and
Ella essentially run away from home, as Will discovers when he drops by their
house, wonders where they’ve gone, discovers the Leisure Seeker is gone, and
freaks out. Cut to John and Ella on the road with John at the wheel. John may
not have all his marbles, but after a few minor mishaps, he’s on autopilot. We learn
that he was once a brilliant literature professor who adored Hemingway and that
Ella was the dutiful faculty wife. She knows that his memory is on the cusp on
the road to no return, so why not head for the Florida Keys to see Papa
Hemingway’s home and give the old boy a late-in-life thrill? Along the way they
can drive through Ella’s native South Carolina.
The early parts of the film have the feel of a geriatric
caper film, but eventually it turns more poignant. Not much in this film would
work were lesser actors in the lead roles. Sutherland masterfully portrays
dementia as akin to a failing light bulb; that is, he blinks in and out. There
are moments in which Ella wakes up, her husband is lucid, and memories flow. Then
the light wobbles and fades. Ella has issues of her own; she’s very sick, hides
her illness beneath a too-young-for-her wig, and she continues to play her role
as John’s booster—though he doesn’t really require it—because it’s what she
knows. Together Sutherland and Mirren show a side of older folks that’s seldom
depicted well—an age-burnished affection made manifest by mutual respect,
mannered interactions, and even physical attraction. Credit Virzi also with
delving into their challenges: incontinence, blurted out secrets, a pharmacy of
pills to swallow, blathering on in front of people who don’t care, and
wondering if it’s time to pack it in.
It must also be said that at times the script has more holes
than the Leisure Seeker’s exhaust system. We have, for instance, the clichéd
sibling rivalry. Will is the son who never really got his act together, but he lives
in the same town and bears the brunt of eldercare. Jane, by contrast, is the
calm golden girl who followed in her father’s footsteps and is now also a
literature professor. Will wants to kibosh the road trip and spends much of the
film screaming at his mother to tell him where they are; Jane tells him to
chill and let them have their last fling. It apparently never occurs to either
of them that they know the license number and could simply ask the police to
look for a rusty Winnebago with Massachusetts plates! Moreover, in road trip
films the central issue is always whether or not the destination is achieved, a
yes/no situation that invariably leads to padding material to stretch it to
movie length. You can probably predict that some of this falls considerably shy
of poignant and also occasionally stretches credulity as well as time. Cameo
appearances by Dick Gregory and Dana Ivey are only loosely stitched to the
film’s fabric. Of course, there is also the issue that a film seeking to be
three things—comedy, romance, and drama—usually ends up having an identity
crisis.
Still, it is a genuine pleasure to see two amazing actors
transcend script issues. Sutherland is convincing in his portraying Alzheimer’s
on the verge of when the on-off button will fail to bring light. As one whose
mother made this tragic descent, I can attest that Sutherland stirred my helplessness
as an observer. Mirren is equal parts determination, frustration, and
resignation. Her occasional anger also rings realistic. Call it inappropriate,
but it's often infuriating to be around those who forget something as soon as
you say it. If you’re wondering, Mirren's South Carolina accent is better than
that of a Charleston native! I could have done with about half of McKay’s
histrionics, though.
Is this a good film? Objectively, it’s only half good and part
are rather lame. But if you have dealt with memory loss in any form, you’ll see
plenty that you recognize. It’s also nice to see older people that have agency
and, yes, even sex on occasion.
Rob Weir
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