Oh, thank goodness, most of this is in English; I hate being bored in another language. Want to know what this film is about? A once famous director trying to get back with estranged daughter writes a screenplay about his mother -but it’s really about his daughter- when she refuses to take part, he gets an American to play the role. That’s it.
It takes the film about 90 minutes to get to there without anything of consequence happening. I mean nothing at all. And that all left me wondering when a film was gonna break out. As none ever appeared, I’ve saved you the trouble here. Now you don’t have to guess and maybe, just maybe the scenes will be a little more poignant than they were for me. Maybe not. This is a really dull film, no matter how much emotion went into it.
Nora (Renate Reinsve) is a Norwegian stage actress of some acclaim. It runs in the family; her father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), was a well-known director once upon a shoot. Nora’s mom just died leaving she and her sister Agnes with only one living parent, Gustav. And Gustav has some serious shortcomings, most stemming from the fact that he left when his daughters were young.
The Nora storyline is a bit one-dimensional, so the film gives up on it after it goes nowhere and concentrates on this house where Gustav grew up. Gustav arrives with memories and American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). Rachel thinks she’s playing the part of Gustav’s mother as a girl -which she feels uncomfortable about playing. In reality, she’s playing the part of Gustav’s daughter -which she also feels uncomfortable about playing.
I’d like to say there was more to this film. I really, really, really would like to say that. I mean, sure, eventually, Nora’s sister shows up cuz you
never can have too many sad Norwegians. BTW, isn’t Stellen Swedish? Isn’t that like a crime in Scandinavia to mix up the two? Just askin’.
An alternative title here could be: “How I Learned to Hate My Father.” It would be apt; you could probably cut a healthy 45 minutes off the screenplay and still derive just as many tears. I’ll give Sentimental Value a few breaks here – yes, this was definitely a heartfelt film and, yes, there are a few worthwhile tears in this effort. The film also had a few laughs, believe it or not. One obvious one comes when Rachel is fooled into believing “this is the stool found under my mother’s noose” … except mom died in the Eisenhower era and the stool is from IKEA. But I got a huge guffaw out of giving a small child the gift of DVDs of Irreversible and The Piano Teacher. Quality gifts.
Overall, however, I found very little in this picture to demand all the attention it is getting. I found it boring, meandering, and fairly plotless, like you took a slice of life out of an unhappy family and made it into a film. I’m sure that works with many. I kinda need a plot; that’s when the Sentimental Value kicks in for me. Ya dig?
There was once an actress named Nora
Whose father was the king of ignore-a
Now he’s come back to town
Trying to shed his earned crown
Which is great if this weren’t such a bore-a
Rated R, 133 Minutes
Director: Joachim Trier
Writer: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Genre: Father v. Daughter
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Film critics
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Me
