Eleanor the Great

Last night my nephew and I returned to the Broadway (I have been there a lot this week) to see Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut, and we both enjoyed it.  Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb) moves from Florida back to New York to live with her daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) after her longtime best friend Bessie (Rita Zohar) dies unexpectedly.  Her busy and distracted daughter signs her up for a class at the JCC but she accidentally ends up in a Holocaust survivor's support group.  When it is her turn to share with the group, she feels so welcomed by the members that she tells Bessie's survival story as her own and this gets the attention of Nina (Erin Kellyman), a young journalism student grappling with the recent death of her mother who wants to profile Eleanor for an assignment.  They begin an unlikely friendship which helps Eleanor with her loneliness and Nina with her grief but it is tested when Eleanor's story takes on a life of its own and spirals out of control.  I think Eleanor's actions might be problematic for some, especially since it involves a very sensitive subject, and the resolution is a bit too convenient without much examination but Squibb is incredibly charismatic and delivers such a charming performance (one of her very best) that it compensates for many of the movie's flaws.  I also really enjoyed Kellyman's sensitive performance because it is a very authentic portrayal of grief (a scene where she smells the sweater that belonged to her mother is very moving and brought a tear to my eye) and a monologue from Zohar in the third act is incredibly powerful (I really liked that Bessie is the one talking about her experiences in flashbacks whenever Eleanor is asked to tell the story).  Much of this is very conventional, including the cinematography, editing, production design, and score, but I was charmed by the performances and think it is worth seeing for them.

Note:  My nephew was the youngest person in the theater.  I was the second youngest!