Sean Baker is right up there with Chloe Zhao as one of the most humanistic and empathetic directors of our generation. His eye for outcasts and his keen ability to show the limits of the American Dream solidify his place as an important, much-needed artistic voice.
With that being said, his latest film ANORA proves that he is much more of a character/atmosphere filmmaker than a plot one. What starts as a promising screwball comedy with trademark hints of poignancy devolves into a full-out slapstick farce in bad need of an editor, with some scenes just going in circle after circle to the point I wanted Paul Simon to pop out and sing, "I'm on my way/I don't know where I'm going/But I'm on my way..."
The work of Blake Edwards seems to be a subconscious influence here, which makes such excesses slightly more understandable; a movie like VICTOR/VICTORIA might be a masterpiece if it weren't for one too many bar fight. Still, the comedy often feels more contrived than a natural product of the characters' idiosyncrasies, and a poignant but sudden ending scene would have landed better if some of the antics had been traded for more moments fleshing out the protagonist beyond, well, her flesh.
Mikey Madison undoubtedly maximizes what she can maximize with an underwritten character (the added nuance perhaps provided by Baker's usual cowriter Chris Bergoch seems to be missing), and the supporting actors do the same, especially regular Baker collaborator Karren Karagulian. But after loving Baker's last two films, which were less plot-driven and more atmospheric, empathetic studies of overlooked American communities, this film came off as a huge disappointment.
There are a couple scenes in the film that feature a seemingly lonely and melancholic maid forced to clean up the excessive mess left by the spoiled rich person she works for. I think a film about her story ultimately would have been much more interesting.
