Just as the end of the year family holiday preparations are beginning, moviegoers are getting another flick about the dark side of motherhood (something to think about as you await her never-dry turkey). Think of these as the flip-side to those Hallmark cable movie staples. So, last year we saw Amy Adams howling at the moon as NIGHT BITCH. And just a few weeks ago, I endured (that’s right, though many of my fellow critics are embracing it) Rose Byrne careening close to the edge in IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU. Now for the first full weekend of November, an Oscar-winning actress who’s been a movie MIA for the last couple of years is returning in a flick with a mixed-message title (or is it somewhat passive-aggressive) title, DIE MY LOVE (I wonder if they toyed with a title riff on the Everly Brothers classic and called it “Dye, Dye, Love”).
After several seconds of a black screen with ambient sounds, the story begins as longtime couple Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) enter what will be their new home. Actually he’s been there before, since it was owned by his late uncle, but she’s a tad “under-whelmed” by the rickety, weather-beaten shack in the middle of rural Montana. Nonetheless, they soon turn it into their family home with the arrival of a baby boy. Ah, but we then get a flashback as pregnant Grace is hosting a big holiday dinner for her in-law, including Jackson’s doting mother Pam (Sissy Spacek) and his addled papa Harry (Nick Nolte), who somehow connects with Grace. The story springs ahead as Jackson begins taking jobs that keep him away from her and the baby . This sends Grace down a road of despair and delusion. She’s certain Jackson’s cheating on her, since their passion has cooled. Is that why Grace likes to crawl around like a cat in the tall grass? Or is it the reason she joins Pam on her midnight sleepwalking strolls? And is the mysterious man on a motorcycle, Karl (LaKeith Stanfield) real or a “player” in her fevered fantasy dream state? Can Jackson get his own act together to guide Grace away from the abyss of possible madness?
Though the two leads get fairly equal billing in all the marketing, this film serves as a reminder that Ms. Lawrence is one of our most compelling and adventurous actresses. Once again, she’s “without a net” as the complex Grace who elects our sympathy just before showing “her claws” (listen to how she verbally assaults that poor cashier). What a handful, though Lawrence conveys her deep almost fanatical devotion to her child (mama Grizzly, indeed), while seeming to endanger herself frequently (always eyeing Pam’s rifle). Her Grace is sad and scary. Let’s hope it’s not another two years until Lawrence “graces” the big screen. Thankfully, she has chemistry to spare with Pattinson, who brings more humanity to Jackson than’s there in the script. He’s not as complicated as Grace, but Pattinson draws us in to see the shift from the beer-swilling “good ole’ boy” to the husband struggling to understand his spouse. Happily, these current film stars share a few scenes with a couple of veteran actors who made their “mark” nearly fifty years ago. Spacek is a caring and giving “Earth mother”, who is one of the few elders who notices something is “off” with Grace and embraces her as a way of destroying the “demons”. But she’s also “fragile” after the loss of her own love, played by the raspy, often menacing Mr. Nolte. Harry isn’t around for the story’s big catastrophic turns, but Nolte projects a pride that shines through even as he struggles to make it past his mental “fog”, which is parted by the concern and compassion of Grace. He’s not given much dialogue, but Stanfield says so much with his dark, brooding eyes, which is like gasoline to the still smouldering embers of passion in Grace’s libido until he gets tangled in her mania.
This exceptional cast is guided by director/co-screenwriter (joining Alice Birch and Edna Walsh in adapting the book by Ariana Harwicz) Lynne Ramsay, whose 2011 horror/drama WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is far too relevant. She keeps the characters operating in an almost dream-like state, perhaps to reflect Grace’s slowly cracking psyche. This puts us at a distance as the timeline is shifted haphazardly (that family flashback doesn’t fir with the first act). I was reminded of another “artsy” drama in which Lawrence was a tortured (in all ways) lead, the baffling MOTHER. Like that “experiment” we’re subjected to a near constant feeling of danger as Grace makes bizarre choices that often leave her naked and bloody. In that way, Jackson is seemingly an “after thought”, showing up to try to “clean up the mess”. And it’s so messy, sometimes scuttling any incident into the very real challenges of postpartum depression (Grace juggles that with her cluttered “head space”). This makes for frustration for the folks around the couple along with us. And, once again, good intentions are part of the road to Hell and Hellish cinema. Even though Lawrence is still a most watchable talent, her bravado can’t work its magic on DIE MY LOVE.
2 Out of 4
DIE MY LOVE is now playing in select theatres
