Podcasts

Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.

Charlene Giannetti

A Bigger Splash – Love, Sex, and Murder On an Italian Isle

05/13/2016

In A Bigger Splash (the title comes from David Hockney’s pop art painting), Tilda Swinton plays Marianne, a rock star recovering from throat surgery. She retreats, along with her lover, Paul, to the remote Italian island of Pantelleria. Ensconced in a spacious villa high above the sea, the two spend languid days making love and lying on the beach. Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) gently cares for Marianne, knowing that she must not talk if she is to heal. Their solitude is disrupted, however, when Marianne’s former lover, Harry (Ralph Fiennes on speed), arrives for an extended visit with his daughter, Penny (Dakota Johnson). Soon the quiet villa is filled with Harry’s outsized personality and boisterous voice and the island paradise is crackling with sexual tension. Pantelleria is a volcanic island, but when the eruption comes, it will be man made.

Frequent flashbacks fill in the history linking the three main characters. Marianne, it seems, is a megastar. Harry, a record producer who claims to have influenced the Rolling Stones, is seen in a recording studio working with Marianne, although how much he was responsible for her success is left unsaid. Appearing in a huge venue teeming with loyal fans, Marianne, with her makeup and costume, resembles David Bowie. We now understand what’s at risk with her recovery and why Paul is being so protective. (References are made to Julie Andrews who lost her singing voice.)

dinnerAfter their breakup, Harry introduced Marianne to Paul, a photographer and a recovering alcoholic. Paul is the strong and dependable presence in Marianne’s life. Where Harry sowed chaos, Paul brings calm. Now it seems that Harry is having second thoughts and this trip to Pantelleria is an assault to win Marianne back. Harry comes equipped for the battle, tempting Paul with bottles of fine wine and his Lolita-like daughter. Harry admits that he just became aware of Penny’s existence, while she claims not to be convinced he’s her father. The interaction between Harry and Penny, their too close embraces and amorous gazes, are discomforting.

From the moment Harry’s flight lands (the shadow of the plane ominously passes over the prone figures of Marianne and Paul on the beach), he begins to dictate the action. He knows this island (we never really learn how), and plans everything, from a dinner at a nearly inaccessible restaurant located on a steep hill, to a karaoke night in a local bar where he keeps pushing Marianne to join in singing. Is he wooing Marianne back or trying to destroy her career? Maybe both?

Marianne and HarryWhile Marianne whispers that she’s not leaving Paul, she’s not pushing Harry away, either. Harry’s aggressiveness makes him hard to dismiss and his reminiscing about times past, when Marianne’s career was soaring and they were both high on coke, brings home that those days may not come again. While the pair tours around Pantelleria (even visiting a woman who makes ricotta in her kitchen), Paul and Penny take a long hike to a remote part of the island. Penny quickly discards her clothing and stretches out on the rocks in a not too subtle invitation to Paul. Unlike the sexual novice she played in 50 Shades of Gray, Johnson’s Penny is the provocateur, saving her best surprise for last.

A Bigger Splash is Tilda Swinton’s second collaboration with Italian Director Luca Guadagnino, the first I Am Love, a 2009 Italian film where she played a married woman who has an affair with a chef. (The scene where she swoons after eating a prawn dish he prepared for her is priceless.) it’s easy to see Guadagnino’s fascination (actually any director’s fascination) with Swinton. She’s like a blank canvas, able to transform herself not only from film to film but from scene to scene. In A Bigger Splash, she’s a chameleon, appearing androgynous in the role of a rock star and incredibly sexy in her scenes with Fiennes and Schoenaerts. Marooned on the island, stripped of her music persona and unable to speak, she remains a potent force, the center of the battle between the two men. She manages to convey a stunning array of emotions with her facial expressions and body language.

Penny and HarryAs Harry, Fiennes literally throws himself into the role, holding back nothing whether challenging Paul to a race in the pool or exhibiting manic dance moves to a Rolling Stone’s tune. Fiennes seems to be having a good time playing larger than life characters like his Monsieur Gustave in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Unlike the well-meaning Gustave, however, his Harry carries a menacing undertone, his exuberance masking a desperation, a sexual hunger that threatens to turn violent. The film’s tension is ratcheted up with the soundtrack, the loud electronic music at times almost unbearable.

One of the most powerful characters in the film is the island itself. Notwithstanding Marianne’s luxurious villa, Pantelleria’s rugged and bleak landscape shouts despair and loneliness, echoed by the many refugees washing up on shore, a tragic counterpoint to what is playing out in Marianne’s villa.

A Bigger Splash opens nationwide on May 13, 2016.

Woman Around Town Wins Award from New York Press Club

05/11/2016

Woman Around Town once again has been singled out for journalism excellence with a 2016 award from the New York Press Club. Charlene Giannetti won in the Food Writing category for her review of Elizabeth Minchilli’s book, Eating Rome. (See the story.) Charlene, Woman Around Town’s co-founder and editor, has now won seven Press Club Awards. The site has won a total of 20 awards, consistency winning annually since its founding in 2009.

“Now in our eighth year, Woman Around Town continues to celebrate and promote excellent writing on the Internet,” said Publisher Debra Toppeta. “Charlene is to be commended, not only for her writing, but for continuing to work with all our writers to make sure our stories continue to meet the standards we established when launching Woman Around Town.”

Charlene, a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania and then wrote for several publications in Washington, D.C., covering environment and energy policy. She was an editor for Business Week magazine in New York and her articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications. She is the author of 12 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including The Roller-Coaster Years, Cliques, and Boy Crazy! In February, 2017, Globe Pequot Press will publish The Plantations of Virginia, a collaboration between Charlene and Jai Williams, a Woman Around Town contributing writer and photographer, who also took the photos for the book which focuses on more than 40 plantations in the state.

The awards will be presented on Monday, June 6, at the Water Club.

The Man Who Knew Infinity – Is Genius a Gift from God?

05/06/2016

All I wanted was to sing to God. He gave me that longing… and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that. If He didn’t want me to praise him with music, why implant the desire? Like a lust in my body! And then deny me the talent? Antonio Salieri in Amadeus

What makes a genius? Are these individuals born? The result of excellent schools and diligent parents? Or does God bestow on certain people exceptional talents? In Amadeus, Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham in his Oscar-winning role), railed against the creator for choosing to bless not him but Mozart with the enviable ability to create music that touched the soul.

In The Man Who Knew Infinity, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel in a multifaceted performance), is a genius in another field, mathematical formulas gushing forth impressing the best analytical minds at Cambridge. When asked by his mentor, professor G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), where that inspiration comes from, Ramanujan says from God. Hardy, an atheist, finds it hard to accept that explanation. But what Ramamujan manages to put on paper continues to astound and certainly invites the idea that somehow a deity is involved.

The film takes some liberties from the true story upon which it is based. Ramanujan, an Indian from Madras (now Chennai), had little formal education. Without being able to write on paper, a luxury in his impoverished village, Ramanujan writes his formulas in the few books he possesses as well as with chalk on stones in the temple. Needing to support his wife and mother, he lands a job as an accountant with a condescending British boss (Stephen Fry, in a fleeting appearance), but continues his entreaties to be published by writing to Hardy at Cambridge. Intrigued by the formulas Ramanujan sends, Hardy invites him to England. Thus begins a relationship that will weather discrimination, numerous confrontations with the Cambridge hierarchy, as well as the misery that descends on the country during World War I. Alone in a foreign country, Ramanujan battles loneliness by immersing himself in his work. His letters to his wife, Janaki (Devika Bhise), are intercepted by his mother who resents his marriage. When Ramanujan falls ill with tuberculosis, he believes he has been abandoned by his family with no one but Hardy to come to his aid.

Infinity2Hardy pushes Ramanujan to show proof of his work, a roadmap explaining how he arrives at his formulas. But Ramanujan’s mind doesn’t work that way. (Any math student who has been chided by a teacher to show the steps rather than just write down the obvious answer will understand Ramanujan’s situation.) Hardy, however, understands the academic hurdles Ramanujan must clear in order to be accepted. In the end, he does just that becoming the second Indian to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and the first Indian Fellow at Trinity. Even today, his calculations are seen as groundbreaking, influencing not only computer development and economics but also the study of black holes.

Patel, whom we know from a string of hits – Slumdog Millionaire, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel, as well as HBO’s Newsroom – tackles a more serious role here, portraying Ramanujan’s determination to have the world pay attention to his formulas. But he also displays the mathematician’s vulnerable side. While he’s made it to Cambridge, he’s not accepted by either the students or the professors, spending  solitary days and nights in his room, cooking his own inedible meat-free meals. When the Cambridge green is taken over by tents sheltering injured soldiers, Ramanujan finds himself a target by those who resent his presence.

As Hardy, Irons is an academic with a cause. Hardy plays by the rules, but isn’t afraid to thwart those rules for Ramanujan recognizing the young man’s talents. Irons benefits with support from Toby Jones as J.E. Littlewood and Jeremy Northman as Bertrand Russell. The trio form an alliance to advance Ramanujan’s cause.

Films focusing on math  – A Beautiful Mind and The Imitation Game – have defied the odds and done well with theater audiences. The Man who Knew Infinity may not rise to that level, particularly in the run up to summer movies when superheroes dominate. Yet geniuses are superheroes, brilliant minds that raise the bar and continue to wield influence. Chances are after seeing this film, you will find ourself launching into discussions about the genius factor and which individuals have earned that distinction.

The Man Who Knew Infinity opens nationwide May 6, 2016.

Disgraced – A Clash of Cultures Over Dinner

05/02/2016

Avoiding talk about religion and politics is prudent, particularly during a dinner party like the one we see in Disgraced that brings together four friends from very different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The setting is an upscale apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a balcony providing a spectacular view of the Chrysler building. Amir Kapoor (Nehal Joshi) is a corporate lawyer at a major firm who specializes in the lucrative work of mergers and acquisitions. His wife, Emily (Ivy Vahanian), is an artist whose career is about to take off. The dinner guests  include Isaac (Joe Isenberg), a Jewish curator who is helping Emily with a new show, and his African-American wife, Jory (Felicia Curry), a fellow associate at Amir’s firm. The evening begins on a civil note, but before the main course is served, tempers flare, accusations fly, and violence erupts.

Ayad Akhtar has written a play for our times, one that delves into topics that most of us think about but rarely dare to voice our opinions upon. After seeing this play, chances are conversations will follow. And in our current political climate, that’s not a bad thing. Disgraced, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for drama, is the most-produced play of the 2015/16 theater season. Akhtar, a novelist and screenwriter, has obviously touched a nerve about what it means to be an American and if assimilation, particularly for Muslims, is ever really possible.

Disgraced4

Samir Raval and Nehal Joshi

Amir and Emily are an odd couple, and not just because of the differences in their backgrounds. He was born in Pakistan and raised as a Muslim. But with his feet firmly planted in America, he’s left his religion behind, deriding Islam as an ancient religion out of place in the modern world. Emily is obviously American and not Muslim. However, she tends to romanticize Islam and even uses Islamic images in her artwork. (The set design includes one of Emily’s paintings over the fireplace.) Amir’s nephew, Abe Jensen (Samip Raval), is similarly conflicted about his origins, having changed his name after being born Hussein Malik. Yet Abe is determined to help an iman who has been arrested and asks Amir to help. Amir initially refuses, but when pressured by Emily, agrees. Although Amir doesn’t actually represent the iman, his name winds up in the newspapers, exposure that will damage his position at his firm.

The evening of the dinner party, Isaac arrives a half hour early, followed shortly by Jory. While Emily rushes to get dressed, Amir, after rudely admonishing Isaac for arriving ahead of schedule, grudgingly pours drinks and attempts to entertain his guests. The mixup in timing is the first indication that things are about to go awry.

Conversation over the fennel and anchovy salad begins innocently enough, but when talk turns to Amir’s involvement with the iman’s case, the discussion grows more heated. Akhtar’s dialogue is, at times, searing. The playwright has talked about how his own struggle with his identity, ethnically and religiously, inspired the play. While Amir has made accommodations to be accepted and succeed in mainstream America, when challenged, he finds himself defending Islam even excusing acts of violence, a moment which produced gasps from the audience.

Disgraced2

Joe Isenberg,Felicia Curry, Ivy Vahanian, and Nehal Joshi

The other explosions have less to do with identity and more to do with the typical conflicts that erupt when hard-driving professionals compete for success in the board room and the bedroom. Amir receives bad news on both fronts. How much his cultural struggles contribute to the outcome becomes less important than how he will move ahead.

Arena Stage’s production benefits from strong direction by Timothy Douglas who also directed Arena’s King Hedley II. Confrontations between the actors, both verbal and physical, are staged for maximum effect. Pacing is impressive. At 90 minutes with no intermission, the action never flags and when the lights go down, the audience is left breathless.

The four actors are up to the challenges. As Amir, Joshi displays an impressive range, from a hard-hitting attorney at the top of his game, to someone who sees his dreams crash and burn. Emotions are conveyed, not only with facial expressions, but with body language. In the beginning he seems puffed up by his own importance; by the end, he seems deflated.

Vahanian goes toe-to-toe with Joshi, never backing down even when faced with her own wrong-doing. We watch her transformation from loving, idealistic wife, to a woman who can stand on her own and no longer needs to define herself as part of a multi-ethnic couple.

Disgraced3

Felicia Curry

I found Curry’s performance most powerful. Her time on stage was less than the other actors, but she left such a strong impression that her absence was immediately felt. Isenberg’s character came off as the least likable, someone who was ready to cross even those closest to him in order to achieve his goals. As Abe/Hussein, Raval’s performance was telling, reflecting the conflict felt by so many young Muslim men who struggle to fit into a society that often targets them.

Set Designer Tony Cisek has created the quintessential Manhattan apartment for urban professionals. Even before Amir and Emily begin their first conversation, we understand their aspirations and life-style. Costumes by Toni-Leslie James are perfect, while lighting by Michael Gilliam and original compositions by sound designer Fitz Patton take us from scene to scene and heighten the emotional impact.

Disgraced is a provocative evening of theater. Don’t miss it.

Photos by C. Stanley Photography
Opening: Left to right, Joe Isenberg, Nehal Joshi, Ivy Vahanian and Felicia Curry

Disgraced
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth Street SW
202-554-9066

A Sizzling 110 in the Shade at Ford’s Theatre

04/23/2016

How is it that the 1963 musical, 110 in the Shade, can still seem so relevant today? The title can’t help but make us think about current concerns with global warming and drought. But it’s the musical’s social messages that are timeless and sure to resonate with audiences both young and old.

Based on the 1954 play, The Rainmaker, by N. Richard Nash, the musical’s bona fides are impressive. Nash wrote the book while the talented team behind The Fantasticks was responsible for the lyrics (Tom Jones) and music (Harvey Schmidt). There have been very few stagings since that time, including a 1992 New York City Opera Revival, a 1999 concert production in London, and the 2007 Broadway revival. So the new production now playing at Ford’s Theatre is not to be missed.

If you are unfamiliar with 110 in the Shade, you’re not alone. In a press release, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, said that she had no knowledge of the show when she was approached by Ford’s Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault to be the production’s choreographer and director. She quickly fell in love with the story, which features a formidable woman at the center, and the music, which ranges from “sweeping Americana sound,” to “heartfelt melodies.” But it was the musical’s themes that really excited her. “The show makes two points about dreams: we can’t live entirely in them, but we can’t live a hopeful life without them,” she said. “110 in the Shade is a hopeful story, and we need that now.”

Dodge signed on and her deft hand is visible throughout this terrific production. The choreography is exuberant, whether we are watching the entire cast dance a hoe-down, or a love-struck couple (Jimmy played by Gregory Maheu and Snookie, played by Bridget Riley), execute a Texas-style pas de deux. There’s never a lag in the action, something critical in a musical that clocks in at more than two and a half hours.

03v_110intheShadeThe setting is a small rain-starved Texas town in the 1950s. Everything on stage, including the water tower, seems brown and dusty. While townspeople enter to fill pitchers and buckets with their daily water rations, the sheriff, File (Kevin McAllister), belts out the obvious: “Gonna Be Another Hot Day.” McAllister’s stage presence and booming baritone/bass voice sets the tone. McAllister, who brought us to tears when he sang “Father, How Long?” in Ford’s Theatre’s production of Freedom’s Song, continues to excite us with his performances.

McAllister’s File manages a strong presence to the people he’s sworn to protect. Yet maintaining that facade takes its toll. He calls himself a widower, even though the whole town knows his wife ran off with another man. Rancher H.C. Curry (Christopher Bloch) hopes that File will marry his daughter, Lizzie (Tracy Lynn Olivera), who has arrived home after she failed to find a husband while staying with friends in neighboring Sweetwater. H.C. and his two sons, Jimmy (Maheu) and Noah (Stephen Gregory Smith), invite File to the annual picnic so that Lizzie can impress him with her fancy dress and tasty picnic basket. Lizzie is reluctant to attend, but gives in singing “Love Don’t Turn Away.” File, however, is a no show.

Seen through a contemporary lens, Lizzie’s treatment by her family, if not outright abuse, is certainly psychologically damaging. She’s constantly put down, particularly by Noah, for being “plain,” and unable to attract a man. In a humorous exchange, Jimmy, who is taunted for being dumb, tries to give Lizzie pointers for flirting with a man, using some of Snookie’s come-ons as examples. Lizzie’s self esteem may be suffering, but she sticks to her game plan to attract the right kind of husband. “I want him to stand up straight, and I want to be able to stand up straight to him,” she says.

09h_110intheShadeLizzie’s world is jolted when a stranger named Starbuck arrives in his carnival-like trailer promising to bring rain – for a price. While townspeople quickly fall under Starbuck’s spell – including H.C. who forks over $100 to bring about the rain – Lizzie quickly sizes up the new arrival as a con man. Lizzie, however, has met her match. Starbuck confronts Lizzie with her fears about not being pretty or even feeling like a woman and his observations hit home. As Starbuck, Ben Crawford is so athletic and acrobatic (at one point he slithers on the floor), we wonder if he’s spent time with Cirque de Soleil. Besides having some of the best dance moves this side of Magic Mike, he can act, his scenes with Olivera crackling with sexual tension.

02v_110intheShadeI could listen to Tracy Lynn Olivera sing the phone book (or what passes for the phone book these days). Fortunately, she’s given fabulous material to work with here and she gives it her all. While she can certainly belt out a song (“Raunchy”), it’s the love ballads in the second act that stop our hearts. When she comes to the realization that yes, she is beautiful, seeing that beauty reflected in Starbuck’s eyes, that flood of emotion comes through in song.

In the end, Lizzie is left to choose between File and Starbuck. Will she stay with the stable File or agree to travel around the country with Starbuck? No matter which man Lizzie chooses, she’s now a changed woman and will go into this marriage believing in herself without being held hostage by other people’s opinions.

Photos by Carol Rosegg

110 in the Shade
Ford’s Theatre
511 Tenth Street, NW
Through May 14, 2016

Roz Chast’s Cartoons Make Us Laugh – Often at Ourselves

04/15/2016

Roz Chast’s parents wanted her to become a teacher. Thank goodness for all her fans that she took another path. For nearly 40 years, Chast has been making people laugh with her clever, off-beat cartoons for the New Yorker. Many of her cartoons are wry observations of the challenges that come with living in the city that never sleeps. But she’s also adept at zeroing in on family relationships, finding a universality that not only is amusing but also reassuring. Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs, featuring more than 200 works from this prolific artist, opened on April 14 at the Museum of the City of New York.

Subway Sofa, 2016 by Roz ChastLongtime admirers will no doubt find their favorites on display, but there are also many cartoons and works that have never been published. And sure to delight is a large mural that was painted on site by Chast specifically for this exhibition. “Subway Sofa,” which is placed at the entrance to the exhibit, shows a cross-section of transit riders on “The Unknown” line sitting on a sofa in what looks like someone’s living room. “Roz Chast enables us to laugh at ourselves and deepen our love of the city,” said Whitney Donhauser, the museum’s director.

Chast led a press tour through the exhibition the day before its opening, displaying in person her funny, quirky sense of humor that inspires her work. Her March 5, 2012, New Yorker cover poked fun at the long drawn out effort to complete the city’s Second Avenue subway. “It was begun in the 1970s,” she said, pointing out that her illustration had the tracks snaking through Las Vegas, Papua New Guinea, Saturn, the Center of the Earth, Nebraska, and the Yukon Territories before ending up in the city’s financial district. (FYI, the subway is now expected to open in December.)

Chast grew up in Brooklyn and after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978, submitted her portfolio to the New Yorker. “I thought my work had much more in common with the feeling of the Village Voice rather than the New Yorker,” she said. At that time, the Village Voice was publishing work by Stan Mack and Jules Feiffer, two cartoonists Chast admired. “My parents subscribed to the New Yorker and I was well aware of what it was and the importance of it and that they used cartoons. But I didn’t see myself in there at all. I really submitted there because there were not many places even in 1978 to submit cartoons.”

Roz Chast-2When she returned to the New Yorker the following week, there was a note from the cartoon editor saying he was going to buy a cartoon and to start coming back every week. “It was very surprising to say the least,” she said. In 1986, she secured her first cover for the New Yorker showing a scientist with a pointer before an evolutionary chart of ice cream. “My father’s reaction when he saw it was that a doctor was telling you not to eat what was bad for you,” she said. Since then, she has created more than 18 covers for the magazine. “It’s still thrilling for me when they buy a cartoon and it’s still depressing when they don’t,” she said. “When that feeling goes away, when I don’t care one way or the other, then it’s time to quit.”

For a few years, Chast’s cartoons appeared on the last page of Redbook, usually dealing with the challenges working mothers faced. “They had a fun editor and they decided that they wanted to put one of my cartoons on the back page,” she said. “Then a couple of years later they came to their senses and realized that they really could use the space to sell mascara.”

CHAST266phIncluded are the 26 illustrations from Chast’s book, What I Hate from A to Z. “It really started because I sometimes have insomnia and one thing I do when I have insomnia is that I alphabetize,” she explained. One night she began to think about things that affected her and not always in a positive way. Making the list was “K for kite” (her uncle used to tell her about a little boy who wouldn’t let go of his kite string and flew away), and “W for waterbugs” (“The first time I saw a water bug you can’t even believe it!  It’s very New York.”)

Although Chast lived on the Upper West Side after college, she moved to Connecticut after getting married and having children. When her daughter decided to attend the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Chast put together a small book to help her navigate around the city. “I told her she had to walk three blocks to get from 44th Street to 47th Street and she asked, `what’s a block?’” Chast said. “I thought she was kidding.” She’s now doing a book loosely based on what she did for her daughter.

Perhaps no family-oriented work is more important to Chast than her memoir, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which covers in ways both funny and touching growing up with her parents, first generation New Yorkers born to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Besides panels from the book, on display are family “artifacts” – her father’s encyclopedia and her mother’s purse. As often happens, Chast’s book resonated with a large audience. “I’ve gotten letters from all over,” she said, even though the writers came from all over the U.S. and were of many different backgrounds and religions. “It’s the same story of growing up poor and not being able to throw things away. This was about my parents, but people have their own stories.”

Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
212-534-1672

Images courtesy of the Museum of New York

The Girl From Home – When the Past Becomes the Future 

04/09/2016

The plot has become a familiar one in everything from TV shows and films to novels and memoirs. The hero or heroine is a master or mistress of the universe with a life that others only dream about. Then tragedy strikes and things go south. Rich man is now poor man without two nickels to rub together. Redemption follows and the new life is even better than the previous one. So predictable, so boring.

Fortunately, Adam Mitzner gives us something totally different in his new thriller, The Girl from Home. Yes, our protagonist, Jonathan Caine loses everything, but it’s the route he takes to redemption that makes the story so absorbing. Jonathan worked hard to acquire the trappings of wealth, including a drop-dead Manhattan apartment, a gorgeous younger wife, a Bentley, and summers in the Hamptons. His job managing a hedge fund makes all those perks possible. Yet to meet the expectations of his investors, Jonathan often has to do some Ponzi-like juggling. The house of cards finally collapses, and Jonathan is not only out of a job, but being investigated by the SEC.

Girl from HomeHe retreats to his childhood home upstate, unpacking his suitcase in his old bedroom which still boasts a lighting fixture that resembles a basketball hoop. Jonathan’s mother died years ago and his father, William, suffers from dementia and is in a nursing home. Jonathan’s sister, who lives in the midwest, has always assumed responsibility for their father, even though Jonathan lived closer. Now with no where else to go, Jonathan becomes his father’s caretaker, an experience that begins on an awkward note but eventually brings the two closer together.

Jonathan uses his father’s condition to explain why he has returned to his hometown. Word about his financial disgrace has yet to be publicized, so he’s able to keep up the facade when he shows up to his high school reunion in his Bentley. There he meets Jackie Williams, East Carlisle High School’s homecoming queen who went on to marry Rick, the captain of the football team. Jackie was out of Jonathan’s league in high school, but now the two are drawn together. Jackie is being abused by Rick and when Jonathan invites her to lunch, she accepts.  An affair quickly follows and soon the two are trying to figure out how they can be together permanently. Both Jackie and Jonathan think about killing Rick. But would either one of them actually commit murder?

The characters are so well drawn that we feel like we know them. Jonathan’s transformation from I want what I want to appreciating what he has unfolds slowly and never feels forced. We also understand Jackie’s situation as a victim of domestic abuse. Getting away from the abuser is never easy and often results in the victim being hurt or even killed. No wonder that killing Rick seems like the only way Jonathan and Jackie will ever be together. Mitzer keeps the suspense growing until the very surprising and satisfying end.

The Girl from Home

Adam Mitzner

Marguerite – A Star Is Born – Not

03/25/2016

Who hasn’t dreamed about standing on a concert stage singing to an enthusiastic and packed auditorium? Only a talented few, however, have the voice, presence, and interpretive skills that will bring an audience to its feet and result in thunderous applause. Unless…

Marguerite Dumont is a socialite with more money than singing ability. This French film with subtitles is based on the true life story of Florence Foster Jenkins who was similarly talent challenged. (Stephen Frears’s film, which will star Meryl Streep as Jenkins will be released in May.) The plot takes a page from “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” with everyone around Marguerite (Catherine Frot, who won a César for her performance) afraid to tell her that she can’t sing. At the top of the list is Marguerite’s husband, Georges (André Marcon), who needs her money to keep his failing business afloat. Just attending her performances, even when they are staged in their home, is too painful so he frequently invents car trouble to arrive late.

The situation, however, is about to get complicated. A young journalist, Lucien (Sylvain Dieuaide) and one of his anarchist friends, Kyril (Aubert Fenoy) climb over the Dumont mansion walls to sneak into one of Marguerite’s concerts. The event is billed as a fund raiser for war orphans. (The film is set in 1921, in the aftermath of World War One). The elegantly dressed audience can barely hide laughter when Marguerite begins shrieking several arias. During one she sings with Hazel (Christa Théret), a truly talented young soprano. Lucien, while flirting with Hazel, decides to have some fun with Marguerite. He writes a review titled “The Ophan’s Voice,” and while not specifically a rave, bolsters Marguerite’s determination to keep working on her operatic career.

Also encouraging Marguerite to continue is her butler, Madelbos (Denis Mpunga). While he seems protective of Marguerite, he also has a motive. He hopes that all the photographs he takes of her in costumes will one day be worth a great deal of money. He’s a brooding presence and when the camera focuses on his eye through the camera lens appears truly sinister.

wingsMarguerite has her sights set on a big concert in a big hall. She’s convinced to train with a voice teacher, Atos Pezzini (Michel Fau), whose career is on the wane and, like so many around Marguerite, needs money. Although he’s appalled by her voice, as well as by his decision to trade what’s left of his integrity for cash, he stays the course.

The character of Marguerite could easily have become annoying. And truly, the shrieking is, at times, hard to take. Yet Frot’s Marguerite is not a preening diva, but a woman following her dream, albeit a goal that will always remain out of reach. She’s kind and considerate to those around her and even Lucien, who sets out to exploit her, becomes one of her supporters. Georges, too, in the end tries to shield Marguerite from learning the truth about her singing. For him, it’s no longer about the money, and all about protecting her. When Marguerite finally steps on that stage, like the audience in the film, we hold our breath, hoping for a miracle.

Marguerite opens nationwide Friday, March 25, 2016.

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