Three generations grappling with a life-changing experience during one day of a vacation in Sintra, Portugal, a historic town known for its dense gardens and fairy-tale villas and palaces.
I interviewed director Ira Sachs back in 2014 when he was in town promoting his then latest offering, “Love is Strange.” He was a very down-to-earth guy who spoke passionately about his movies. I thoroughly enjoyed “Love is Strange,” “Forty Shades of Blue,” and “Married Life” and when I sat down to review “Frankie,” I was excited to see what Mr. Sachs had up his sleeve. Unfortunately, his sleeves must have been rolled all the way down to his feet because “Frankie” failed to deliver in every possible way.
The most disappointing aspect of the entire film is its titular character, Frankie, played by Isabelle Huppert. Ms. Huppert has been in the movie industry for almost 50 years and it’s sad to say that she has never appealed to me as an actress, not once. I have always found her to be emotionless, impersonal, and very unenthusiastic in her acting. Here, she plays an aging movie star who is dying of cancer and decides to invite her family and close friends to a large rented house in Sintra, Portugal. As each of them grapples with a future with no Frankie in it, they slowly begin to unravel and truths surface from their pasts that could undoubtedly affect their future.
I love ensemble pieces with lots of character arcs, plot exposition, and intertwining storylines but this is no Robert Altman film. Fellow Irishman Brendan Gleeson has proved to be a very talented actor who has appeared in an assortment of terrific roles from “The Snapper” to “Braveheart” to “The General” and the Harry Potter movies but here, he lumbers around the screen, occasionally trying to reach out to his wife Frankie, only to constantly be given the cold shoulder. Greg Kinnear and Marisa Tomei are convincing as a couple who both work in the film industry but appear to be going in separate directions.
Characters drift in and out of the film, allowing us a small glimpse into their lives only to then be rushed off again until some later random part of the movie requires them to return. The cast does the best with what they have, which is a very poor script written by Mr. Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias that seems hellbent on focusing more on overall ambiance than character development and while Ms. Huppert’s Frankie is as cold and lifeless as most of her other characters, when a member of her family or a close friend breaks down at the thought of losing her, it makes you wonder if they live in the same universe as us or if they live in some alternate reality where Frankie is cheerful, enthusiastic, and basically, a joy to be around. The movie is beautifully shot by Rui Poças who utilizes superb, old-style cinematography to capture the beauty and symmetry of the Portuguese coastline, it’s just a pity Mr. Sachs’ directing and Ms. Huppert’s acting are nowhere near as captivating.
Now playing in select theaters
