Reading the synopsis for this movie I thought I'd be in for an hour of sentimental slush about senior citizens like myself, but it isn't like that at all. Sure, it's about the kind of problems we old folk can encounter, and therefore how it will register with other sections of the population I can't tell. Some won't have any patience with it because it doesn't affect them. Yet. A pity, as they're the ones who'd benefit most from seeing it.
It's an intelligent, well-written, tactfully directed, thoughtful and touching movie. It is luxuriously cast with a bunch of top-level character actors who fill the screen with their warmth. It's invidious to single anyone out but I'm going to mention Martin Starr, an actor I don't remember encountering before in spite of his many credits. His scenes with Blythe Danner are particularly good. Danner herself, the movie's linchpin, is vulnerable without being self-pitying or cloying in any way. A fine performance in a fine film.
