Toronto – It’s a bit late – but better than never. I have put off watching this film since last year. It’s not because I didn’t want to , but so many things got in the way. In a sense, it’s exactly what the movie is about, lost chances and the opportunities to compensate.
Jon and Wendy Savage started this weird episode of make-up when their father had a temper flare-up and wrote “prick” on the bathroom wall with his own feces after the caretaker refuses to flush it for him. Actually, at this point I thought the nurse would find Lenny dead on the floor covered in feces – so in a sense everything was just “fine”. Lenny has dementia occasionally, but in honesty, the problem is that he just doesn’t have much time left. The two siblings, other than the usual rivalry in profession (both writers), now have to figure out what to do with dad, who had never been a good father to begin with. Satire and hard moments ensues, in which both Jon and Wendy has to go through mid life crisis. She’s sleeping with a 52 yr-old man with a ring, and he’s dating a Polish deportee whom he loves but won’t marry. Recognizing that they are neither young nor happy with their lives, they put forward the steps to rebuild. But not before putting dad six feet under to rest in peace. In one part, Wendy lies to Jon that she was awarded a Guggenheim, while Jon’s strapped to an 18lb water bag designed to stretch his neck after a tennis injury. I don’t know where the screenplay came up with that, but it was hilariously effective in showing how bizarre real life can be.
Sure, it’s good that the young ones learned from the old’s “mistakes”. Wendy and Jon picked themselves up and did better in spite of Lenny’s death. But I like the scene where Jon/Wendy ask Lenny what to do with his body. It’s not an easy question to ask. Lenny’s reaction was even harder – “Unplug me! Bury me!” Sometimes it makes you wonder. Was he suckling on every last bit of happiness, including ignorance? This isn’t very forced material – everything has reality and I felt like I have really peeked into someone else’s life. Which is also the bad part about these films – makes you a little guilty, tells you to reflect and ask if you are doing something wrong. A good lesson like this never hurts, though.
