I wandered into a screening of Kent Jones' "Diane" solely on the strength of Mary Kay Place's reputation for giving an excellent--often quirky--performance in the many films she's graced us with. Here too the only thing that kept me in my seat was watching Place and her excellent supporting cast perform.
The film however wore the marks of a director's "first" film in that it's shape was loose (the first half maddeningly repetitious) and determined to equate the topic of depression with, well, depressing the audience.
Jones succeeds in creating the world of a small town in New England, winter of course, as well as a generational portrait (of which I am one) and the weight of one's mortality that comes with that. Everyone's sick, dead, or dying. The role of caretaker is what gets you up and out of the loneliness that's closing in, and the scourge/danger of substance abuse that if you yourself survived you want to save your children from, forgetting that you had to learn for yourself that tough, perilous lesson,.
Midway, the film breaks away from Place's role as compulsive nurturer and explores why she feels the need to atone by, hopefully, caring for others. Those revelations make the film engaging even if it comes a little late in the arc of the story.
I read another review that compares Jones' tone to the masterful work of Kenneth Lonergan. True, but it's a reach too far for this first time director with a script that needed significant tightening. Jones is able to capture a sense of place, and it would be wrong to omit the many cast members who contribute to this effort. If Jones has a stand-out talent, it's an eye for casting and getting something tender and relaxed out of his actors. And there's always having the chance to see Mary Kay Place get a role that keeps her on screen virtually from beginning to end.
The film however wore the marks of a director's "first" film in that it's shape was loose (the first half maddeningly repetitious) and determined to equate the topic of depression with, well, depressing the audience.
Jones succeeds in creating the world of a small town in New England, winter of course, as well as a generational portrait (of which I am one) and the weight of one's mortality that comes with that. Everyone's sick, dead, or dying. The role of caretaker is what gets you up and out of the loneliness that's closing in, and the scourge/danger of substance abuse that if you yourself survived you want to save your children from, forgetting that you had to learn for yourself that tough, perilous lesson,.
Midway, the film breaks away from Place's role as compulsive nurturer and explores why she feels the need to atone by, hopefully, caring for others. Those revelations make the film engaging even if it comes a little late in the arc of the story.
I read another review that compares Jones' tone to the masterful work of Kenneth Lonergan. True, but it's a reach too far for this first time director with a script that needed significant tightening. Jones is able to capture a sense of place, and it would be wrong to omit the many cast members who contribute to this effort. If Jones has a stand-out talent, it's an eye for casting and getting something tender and relaxed out of his actors. And there's always having the chance to see Mary Kay Place get a role that keeps her on screen virtually from beginning to end.