Director and co-writer Richard Linklater's adaptation of
the 2012 bestseller by Maria Semple follows a devoted mom (Cate Blanchett) but
an otherwise abominable human being as she goes through mental difficulties
after devastating setbacks in her architectural career. When a proposed family
trip with her successful computer programmer husband (Billy Crudup) and
middle-school-aged daughter (Emma Nelson) sets off her anxiety, she perpetrates
a few horrifying incidents, is subjected to an intervention and, in response,
disappears. While the film has value as a springboard for conversations about
something everyone has to deal with — namely, failure — it doesn't quite live up
to the quality of some of Linklater's other work. Possibly acceptable for older
teens.
Watch out for: Drug use, a
few crude and crass terms.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2019