In the midst of the worst year of his life, a struggling comedy writer moves back home to care for his dying mother in the off-beat dramedy, Other People.
With the film’s outcome in doubt at very beginning, writer/director Chris Kelly’s feature-film directorial debut story covers the journey of his protagonist, David (Jesse Plemons) as he deals with his emotional issues with his family while serving as his mother’s, Joanne (Molly Shannon) chief caregiver.
Recently living in New York and working as a writer on Saturday Night Live, David has recently suffered the dual disappointment of a spec script he submitted for ABC, not getting picked up and breaking up with his boyfriend of five years, Paul (Zach Woods). Coming home is also uncomfortable for David because when he came out ten years earlier, his stubborn father, (Bradley Whitfield) refuses to accept his decision.
But while there are plenty of reasons to dread a return to Sacramento, his biggest champion, his flamboyant mother, Joanne, supports him while loving him unconditionally. The two share everything and as she prepares for her transition, in a sense, she is also preparing her son for a life without her. While the film’s content, on the surface, seems somber, Kelly’s script provides plenty of light moments breaking up dark pall.
In his zany community of family and friends, there is a family neighbor who is a practical joker and his caustic grandparents, Ronnie and Ruth Anne (Paul Dooley and June Squibb), who reguarly regal David with horrific tales of his mother and her friends. “You know your mother was almost born dead,” begins one of the film’s funniest stories that increases in humor along Paul’s level of discomfort.
While Plemons gives a very good performance, the reason to see this film is Shannon. The former SNL cast member gives her best dramatic performance as the cancer-striken matriarch whose flame slowly is distinguished but refuses to go down with a good old fight. When her husband (Whitfield) offers up the option for cremation, Joanne vehemently declines, telling him “I don’t want to burn in a box.” Shannon dedication to the role, which required her to lose weight and shave her head, matches her acting presentation in a striking performance akin to another comedienne, Sarah Silverman in last year’s breakthrough dramatic tour-de-force, I Smile Back. Shannon’s performance is heartbreaking and even a room of industry veterans were moved to tears.
Kelly’s screenplay stumbles in the middle when he incorporates some elements that while entertaining move the story away from the elements that succeed so well. On a visit to see his childhood best friend, he first encounters his friend’s gatekeeper, his younger animated brother, Justin (J.J. Totah). While the scene begins with much promise, it veers into an area of unconformability and along with an extended sex scene later in the film demonstrates that not all scenes of intimacy are not equal.
Minor quibbles aside, Kelly’s semi-autobiographical story deals with acceptance, not just from his parents, but finally from himself as he finds the courage, with the help of his mother, to live his truth and simultaneoulsy learn to let go of his anger with the past. As one of the characters states, Other People are sad too. While Kelly’s initial effort has it’s share of challenges, terrific performances from Shannon and Plemons provide hope that his next effort will bear slightly better fruit.
Grade: C+