Eleanor the Great

Grief tends to be one of those taboo subjects that many of us are reluctant to talk about, let alone address. But, by failing to do so, we may end up saddling ourselves with a tremendous burden that weighs us down and from which escape can be difficult. That’s especially true for those who’ve experienced devastating losses through such events as the death of loved ones or, even more horrifically, through traumatic experiences, such as being a firsthand witness/survivor of the Holocaust. Those are among the painful human tragedies experienced by a diverse but connected collection of scarred individuals in this impressive directorial debut from actress Scarlett Johansson. When 94-year-old widow Eleanor (June Squibb) loses her longtime best friend and roommate, Bessie (Rita Zohar), she relocates back to her home in New York to live with her daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht), after many years of retirement in Florida. However, because Lisa holds down a full-time job, she’s reluctant to leave mom home alone during the day, so she signs up Eleanor for a group activity at the local Jewish Community Center. In a strange turn of events, though, Eleanor ends up attending the wrong function – a meeting of a Holocaust survivor support group. Needless to say, Eleanor is thrown for a loop. She was born in Iowa and didn’t live through the wartime atrocity, even though Bessie did and shared many of her stories of survival with Eleanor. Because the lonely new transplant is so warmly welcomed into the company of the group, she’s not sure how to react, especially when she’s asked to tell them her own survival story. In an effort to save face, Eleanor begins telling one of Bessie’s stories as if it's her own. In response, group members appreciate “her” candor and courage in opening up. That’s particularly true for a guest of the group, Nina (Erin Kellyman), a young Jewish journalism student hoping to get a story out of her attendance. And, like Eleanor and the other group members, Nina has recently experienced a shattering loss of her own – the untimely accidental death of her mother. Nevertheless, Nina is captivated and convinces Eleanor to tell “her” story for the article she’s writing, a development that quickly snowballs and takes on a life of its own. The challenge for Eleanor thus becomes, how can she keep a lid on the truth? And what might happen if it ever surfaces, especially when Nina’s dad, Roger (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a TV journalist, takes his own interest in Eleanor’s story? To some, this might seem like a strange, potentially unnerving tale for a movie narrative given the subject matter, but I believe that’s precisely the point – it’s intended to shake viewers out of their comfort zones when it comes to dealing with an often-tabooed subject like grief (and, considering the back stories of the characters involved here, there’s plenty of that to go around among them). Through an experience like this, those struggling with these conditions just might find that there’s new comfort to be had even when purposely being dragged out of one’s comfort zone. And, when that happens, is the alleged “betrayal” perpetrated in a situation like this truly a betrayal at all if its intrinsic sincerity ultimately helps to help generate a sense of solace? That’s something worth thinking about, and it’s examined here with a great degree of sensitivity and surprisingly enlightened understanding. Making all of this work are the superb performances of the ensemble across the board, most notably Squibb, who turns in yet another stellar portrayal, one definitely worthy of awards season consideration. This is particularly true when it comes to serving up the film’s strategically placed comic relief, deftly delivered with the kind of gleeful sarcasm for which Ms. Squibb has now become famous. Sadly, “Eleanor the Great” has flown well below the radar of most moviegoers since its release earlier this year, but, now that it’s available for streaming online, here’s hoping it finds the audience it genuinely deserves, especially for those lost in their grief and who are unclear about how to find their way out of it.

“Eleanor” (June Squibb) is having to move back to New York to live with her daughter “Lisa” (Jessica Hecht) who’d far rather she was properly cared for in an home. It’s not that she doesn’t love her mother, it’s more that she lives an hectic life and wants to ensure she is properly looked after. “Eleanor”, on the other hand, has no intention of retiring to a chair in God’s waiting room and is determined to retain as much of her independence as her ninety-four years will allow. “Lisa” had enrolled her in a few community activities and declining the old folks’ Sondheim club, she inadvertently ends up in a room with some Holocaust survivors - and they assume that she is one of their number. Now rather than skedaddle, “Eleanor” starts to regale them with an heart-rending story that attracts the attention of the visiting trainee journalist “Nina” (Erin Kellyman) who quickly decides to make her the feature of her thesis. She’s reluctant to co-operate initially, but a combination of circumstances soon sees her befriend not just the girl, but her father “Roger” (Chiwitel Ejiofor) who’s the frontman for a local television news programme. He likes the idea too, and so the hole she has dug for herself starts to get bigger for “Eleanor”. Meantime, she has also decided to have her Bat Mitzvah - something girls didn’t really get when she was young, but when the television crew turns up for that, as does her daughter, the wheels really do start to come off. Is there any way back for this new and profound friendship, or explanation for her fairly inexcusable behaviour? The story here is really quite thin, and some of the scenarios quite contrived, but Squibb is an engaging actor to watch and the threads of the storyline dealing with trauma, loneliness, grief and age tie together well enough at the end. The other characters aren’t really developed particularly interestingly, and I could have done without the standard father/daughter dealing with deceased wife/mother estrangement storyline that so often seems to feature nowadays, but there’s just about enough wit from the script to keep it watchable for ninety minutes and to remind us that old people are really only the same as every one else, just with a few more wrinkles and memories.