- Actors: Isabelle Huppert, Marisa Tomei, Brendan Gleeson, Greg Kinnear
- Director: Ira Sachs
- DiscFormat: NTSC, Widescreen
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Parents Strongly CautionedPG-13
- Studio: Sony Mod
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 18, 2020
- Run Time: 100 minutes
Watching Frankie
gave me feelings of déjà vu, proving that there are most definitely formulaic
elements to many independent films. It is not enough that there are countless of
them in beautifully historic European settings, or countless more that deal
with the intricacies of family melodrama, and even more still that have a
terminal illness at the center of the storyline; Frankie combines all of these cliché
independent elements into one film, somehow doing justice to none. This is not
to say that Frankie is a poorly made
film, but it is most certainly a slight and forgettable one.
Packed with a
stellar recognizable cast, Frankie
never fully makes use of them due to a script that meanders without much
purpose. There are more than enough characters, but not nearly enough screen
time is spent with any of them, so that they basically still feel like
strangers by the time the credits roll. At the center of the narrative is title
character, Frankie (Isabelle Huppert), a legendary actress on vacation with her
family in Portugal. Introduced to Frankie as she takes a topless swim at an
expensive resort (somehow, I feel this isn’t the first film to feature Huppert
doing this), we soon discover that her carefree attitude is tied to an
unfortunate medical diagnosis which has her doing her best to appreciate life
to the fullest. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film burdens Frankie with
banal melodrama involving her family and close friends. This is not the way I
would spend my last days.
As Frankie
meanders around the resort town in Portugal, having uncomfortable conversations
with family as she attempts to put their lives in order before her death and
awkwardly dealing with the occasional obtrusive fan, the rest of the characters
seem oddly preoccupied with things other than the title character. While we do
see her husband Jimmy (Brandan Gleeson) mourning in advance, he spends an oddly
disproportionate amount of time away from the wife he tells everyone he will
miss so much once she has gone. The fact that some of this time is even spent
flirting with one of the younger characters is also hard to comprehend.
Somehow Jimmy
still manages to be one of the more sympathetic supporting characters, as the
rest of the family spends far more time with their own issues. When Frankie
tries desperately to set up her son (a mopey Jérémie Renier with a
distractingly bad hairstyle) with a former co-worker (Marisa Tomei), he is more
interested in lamenting the women he has lost in his past. And when the setup
is finally fulfilled with a scene between the two of them, it is so devoid of
chemistry that the 100-minute run-time feels inaccurate. It doesn’t help that
she arrives in Portugal with a man she has been dating for some time (Greg
Kinnear in a role that deserves more attention within the script), despite not
having much more chemistry with him. Meanwhile, Frankie’s adopted daughter (Vinette
Robinson) has marital issues that she refuses to face with her husband (Ariyon
Bakare), who has resorted to getting the truth from their daughter (Sennia
Nanua). Eventually discussion goes back to Frankie, but there is so much time
spent on various subplots that it becomes difficult to tell where the film’s
center lies.
Even with more
time spent understanding these characters, and a better focus on the direction
of the narrative, Frankie often feels
tonally inconsistent. At times it feels like an imitation of Woody Allen’s
familiar brand of humor (set in Europe, complete with uncomfortable
relationship interactions meant to amuse us), while the next moment seems
dedicated to heavy melodrama. Unfortunately, none of these moments feel fleshed
out successfully enough to work. Even when the actors are great (particularly
Huppert, Gleeson, and Kinnear), the screenplay lets them down. I often found
myself wondering what the point of each scene was by the end of it.
The Blu-ray
release of Frankie comes with a
Q&A with director/co-writer Ira Sachs and Huppert, as well as a theatrical
trailer. The high definition of the Blu-ray release is good for seeing the
beauty of the filming location, though one gets the impression that this choice
benefited the cast and crew far more than it does the audience.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 3/10
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