[PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING
opens in Cleveland on Friday June 8th exclusively at the Cedar Lee
Theatre.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Can PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING
really be the third
semi-major motion picture in the span of a year in which the answers
to all life's problems can be found in half-baked hippie wisdom?
Evidently so. Once again, as in last August's OUR
IDIOT BROTHER
and this year's JEFF,
WHO LIVES AT HOME,
said wisdom is provided by a family member who is regarded as
something of a black sheep for their pot smoking, peace-and-loving
ways. The twist on the doobie in this case is that the black sheep is
the family matriarch, Grace (Jane Fonda).
Grace's
daughter Diane (Katherine Keener) is the antithesis of her mom, an
uptight, conservative lawyer. The two haven't spoken since Diane had
her mom arrested for selling pot at her wedding, which means Grace
has never even seen her teenage grandkids Zoe (Elisabeth Olsen) and
Jake (Nat Wolf). When her husband (Kyle MacLachlan in a small role)
says he wants a divorce, however, Diane decides to take the kids and
head off for a family reunion at Grace's farmhouse in Woodstock (where else).
It's
all pretty much what you would expect – Diane criticizes her mom
and tries to get her to tone down her behavior, even though she's
just dropped in completely unannounced and uninvited. Grace spouts
woo-woo nonsense about prophetic dreams and crystals and gets her
grandkids high on pot, and of course offers words of wisdom that help
everyone with their love lives and personal issues. Characters are
drawn broadly, with Diane every bit as stereotypical as Grace, but
thanks to the solid performances (is Keener ever bad in anything?)
they feel more real than they have a right to.
There
is no doubt that what happened in the sixties made a huge impact on
American culture, whether you feel that impact was for the better or
the worse. Regardless, you don't move forward by going back. And yet
this film seems to be saying that love generation nostalgia is a
cure-all for modern ills. That's just as ridiculous a stance to take
as the right wingers who want to turn the clock back to the fifties.
Oh, there's a throwaway line where Grace says maybe she has made some
mistakes, but the way the movie presents her and her lifestyle,
whatever mistakes she made are minor at most.
None
of which is to say PEACE,
LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING
isn't an enjoyable film. Director Bruce Beresford (BREAKER
MORANT,
DRIVING MISS DAISY)
is a seasoned filmmaker, more focused on storytelling and performance
than style, and he seems to have a genuine affection for this
material. While one couldn't exactly label this film as
confrontational, the casting of “Hanoi Jane” alone pretty much
insures that those on the right of the political spectrum aren't
going to find much here that speaks to them. As a lightweight family
comedy for the more liberal leaning families out there, however,
there's probably enough warmth and humor here to justify a trip to
the theater. 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.
As published on Examiner.com
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