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Wonderful character development!

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Once in a while, a film touches you on a deeper level. It is gentle, unpredictable and thought provoking. This is such a film. Beautifully acted, Susan Sarandon carries the scenes on her own. It is one of her best performances since Dead Man walking.Films are so often obvious. They can be absurd even, but this film was so true to life. Expect the unexpected and actually things don't add up and you can't just fit things into a box with a neat little bow. Life is confusing, chaotic and beautiful. It's real. That's it and this film shows it all fully without covering up the details. And yet things aren't always said, they are implied or hinted at. I love it.I love a film that leaves you wondering, yet already knowing. Thanks for this.I don't usually write a film review, well hardly ever, but today I felt I needed to write one about The Meddler - enjoy.

A film that describes the relationships and the hardships of dealing with pain and moving on. Who knew that simplicity is the key to tell a story like that.

It's depressing to see a fine actress and lovely lady like Susan Sarandon reduced to doing this kind of comic shtick. There isn't much here you couldn't find in a 1950s TV sitcom about an "interfering mother" -- about the only surprise is that the character of Marnie Minervini is not Jewish, but Italian. (Speaking of that: would an Italian mother be bringing over BAGELS? not biscotti or cannoli? Really?)The stereotype of the bossy smother-mother -- well-intentioned, but SO overbearing -- is a very, very old trope and yet the director here, Lorene Scafaria, seems to think she's struck comedic gold. A bonus feature on the DVD is an interview with Scafaria and her own real life mother, on whom the film characters are based...and it comes across as creepy & troubling, not cute. About the only thing original is that the "smother-mother" here, Marnie, is a baby boomer and not a member of the Greatest Generation...if you fall into that demographic, it is a bit jarring to realize you are now among the OLDSTERS being mocked, and not the "young hip generation" anymore.But the problem with THAT, is when an overbearing mother of that former era was caricatured (unfairly I think), we KNEW someone of that age was a lifetime homemaker & mother, with no real education or career outside of that. So when their kids were grown and their spouse passed away, they had literally NOTHING else in their lives. That is very hard to accept when it comes to a boomer mom, who almost certainly had a career, went to college, etc. If we take Rose Bryne (age 38) and Susan Sarandon (who looks amazing at 70) literally...she did not have her daughter until she was 32. Yet there is no sense whatsoever that Marnie has ever had a profession or career, even part-time...that she had any life beyond marriage & kids...that she has same-age friends (and not just her daughter's friends)...or a life in Manhattan that she has left behind...or that she has always hovered over Lori (Bryne) who at least in her late 30s, for Lori's entire life.That's because Marnie is reduced to a stereotype; a meddling, clinging old crone with no life of her own. If Scarfaria thinks this about her own mother (besides mining her for lame jokes), it is pretty darn sad.Of course the vehicle that finally gives Marnie "a new life" and gets her claws out of Lori (a little) has to be....a new romance, supplied by J.K. Simmons (who's as charming as always). Indeed, nice single men in their 70s are clamoring for gorgeous Marnie here, which frankly is not something I've seen much for women I know over 60. And in LOS ANGELES! In other words: it is apparently not possible for a woman to heal from widowhood or loneliness or clinginess...unless she finds a new lover/husband.The other kinda distasteful element of the film is that Scarfaria (either reflecting real life OR a kind of cultural elitism) has made Marnie staggeringly wealthy. Of course, some people ARE really wealthy, but THAT also means the story is far less universal. Most older widows struggle financially -- your Social Security check is cut by a third when your spouse dies -- but not Marnie! SHE has apparently inherited MILLIONS from her husband, about which she acts as if he were a great-uncle who left her an unexpected inheritance. (Wasn't their wealth, their mutual assets, HALF HERS all this time? why was she SURPRISED to get it?) Out of a combination of guilt, wealth, control, naivete, and self-destructiveness, Marnie seems driven to spend her millions inappropriately -- buying expensive Apple electronics for people she barely knows, and throwing a very costly, large wedding for two ALREADY MARRIED lesbian friends of her daughter ....a couple whom she has just met! -- at first offering them $13,000 as tax-free gift....but then, paying entirely for a wedding which is clearly more than 2-3 times that much, being a catered affair on a rented YACHT and including a very costly designer dress for the bride!Though the whole concept is tedious, I think that last part lost the whole believability aspect for me. Even sitcoms have to be grounded in something relatable. If my mother spent a sizable chunk of her assets (and my future inheritance!) on a stranger's gay wedding (and not MY OWN wedding!)...I'd be properly concerned she was mentally ill or even showing signs of impending dementia. That isn't cute. It's troubling. It is troubling if the lesbian couple accepts this much money from a wealthy stranger, even as a gift. NOBODY here is behaving like anything resembling a real, normal human being in 2015.Not funny. Sad.

Yes, there are some pretty big A-listers in this film....Rose Byrne, Susan Sarandon, J.K.Simmons, Jason Ritter, etc...but just because you have some well known faces in your film, it doesn't mean that you have a great film. That should be the takeaway here. My mom is a longtime fan of Susan Sarandon so I watched the film with her. Both of us were bored to tears. The uninteresting life of Marnie and her daughter just seemed to go on for ever and ever and ever. There's no climax in this film, no payoff. Nothing. It just goes on and ends and that's it. There wasn't even any indication that it was even building up to something. It's just the boring story of a mom and her daughter living in L.A. There is no reason to watch this film at all, because it's just a re- enactment of "REAL LIFE". Hell, you're probably living Marnie's life right now and I bet you're more interesting than Marnie.