Carol (Danner) has been happily single since her husband died, but her sparky friends (Perlman, Place and Squibb) think she should try looking for a companion. After an attempt at speed-dating, she befriends her new poolboy Lloyd (Starr), an old soul who seems to have a crush on her, although she doesn't notice. Then at the golf club she meets Bill (Elliott), a single retiree who also hasn't really put himself out there since splitting with his wife. Their mutual attraction is strong, but they wonder how much time they'll have together.

Each of the actors gives his or her character an inner life, offering hints about the past without ever spelling it out. Only Danner's Carol has a full back-story, revealed in her emotive conversations with Lloyd, Bill and her three pals. She also has a visit from her daughter (Akerman), that offers further insight into her personality. But nothing is laid out obviously by writer Hasch and writer-director Haley. They make the audience work for every morsel, and often leave us filling in gaps ourselves.

In a rare lead role, Danner offers terrific nuances in every scene as a woman who thought she was winding down her life, surprised to discover that she might have a promising future after all. Her scenes with both Starr and Elliott are fascinating simply because it's unclear how she will react to the subtext in each encounter. Both men provide solid characters for her to bounce off of, even if the script seems unsure where to take them.

While the movie contains moments of raw honesty, its lack of energy leaves everything feeling oddly inert. Perlman, Place and Squibb offer comic relief at key points in the story, with some rather contrived coincidences adding a gently silly undercurrent. Much of the humour comes simply from seeing older women do things society says they shouldn't, but these actresses are all so vibrant that the film misses this mark entirely.

themes, language

27.Jan.16