Douglas Sirk , the master of so many great female-driven melodramas of the 50’s (Imitation Of Life, Magnificent Obsession) might have been jealous of Cody Fern‘s directorial debut that just had its World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. It is what Sirk’s and other movies of the era were once dubbed, “women’s films” that didn’t hold back on the all the drama that threatened to rip families apart. They also were made in a Hollywood, one once ruled by producer Ross Hunter, that gave great dynamic roles to women who could light up the boxoffice with them.
Watching Closing Night, a movie about mothers and motherhood in its most unattractive light, at least on the surface, reminded me of a time when this kind of soapy melodrama was a big seller at the box office. I am not sure Closing Night will play as well as those films of a bygone era, but if casting counts this one has the goods. It is not often the kind of material comes along that offers such go-for-broke roles for actresses these days like this one does, but Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest, and Odessa A’zion have risen to the occasion and play this dysfuntional family dynamic to the hilt. It is hard to turn away when this level of talent is pouring it all out on the screen.
It all starts with Broadway star Sandra Vale (Paulson) on stage in her latest hit play, even if the performance isn’t up to snuff, she’s having trouble and this we gather is a star who has never failed a role. However she is determined to go on despite the producers concern and insistence that maybe she can’t . Reluctantly she sees a doctor, takes a cognitive test, and refuses to accept the truth that she is suffering the early signs of dementia. This is a strong woman who is in denial, who can’t understand what is happening to her but it also turns into a moment of self-reflection, a dangerous one as it turns out.
She ignites a firestorm as she invites her estranged family to the opening night of her play, one that turns disastrous, not just on stage when she collapses, but in the hospital room where the worst fears of her eccentric and unbalanced sister, April (Watts) come true when she realizes Sandra has contacted and met her son, Theo (Toby Wallace) who is living with the clueless Lucy (A’zion) and has no idea he is about to find out some hard facts about his family. Enter vitriolic Grandma, Diane (Wiest) who arrives to really stir things up with more secrets and lies that only now are going to explode out in the open after decades of holding them at bay.
In a plot that unfolds like a stage play (this could have headed to Broadway itself) revelations seem to come at a quick pace, and the startling truths of a fractured family come pouring out before it all takes a sharp turn in tone with a surprising decision Sandra has in store.
Fern, a producer on American Horror Story where he met Paulson, has created ultimately a vivid story about motherhood in all its rich but dark degrees of betrayal, anger, regrets, and some pretty bad choices in retrospect, things that may never be forgiven but now don’t have much time even to try.
This is a movie all about performance and Fern has given these amazing stars some pretty dishy roles. Paulson is excellent as the daughter who left family behind to pursue a career at a cost that only now is just getting revealed. Watts seems to have fun playing the loopy sister who has never gotten her act quite together but has tried to be a decent mom to Theo. Wiest is simply dynamite as you might expect when she gets a role to really let loose with, and that she does as the mother who runs a small town beauty parlor and isn’t apologizing for her parenting skills. Wallace and A’zion, possibly pregnant herself, add their own degree of spice to the proceedings but the main attraction here are three stellar female stars in the kind of movie they just don’t make anymore. Well, they just did.
Producers are Nancy Grant, Rosalie Chicoine Perreault,Will Howarth, Matilda Comer.
Title: Closing Night
Festival: Toronto – Special Presentations
Director: Cody Fern
Screenplay: Cody Fern and Devon Bostick
Cast: Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest, Toby Wallace, Odessa A’zion.
Running Time: One Hour and 55 Minutes.
Sales Agent: CAA (U.S.); Mk2 (International)
