20th Century redundance

Yet another tale about the dysfunctional lives of well-meaning white people

I swear, if I see one more movie hipster whose hobby is photography…

This and many more clichés make up the pleasant-but-rote late-1970s nostalgia trip that is “20th Century Women,” a movie so desperate to say something about (and affirm) the messy, complicated lives we live that its self-import isn’t self-evident; it’s forced. The invasive voice-over commentary is the most obvious trope in this regard—a lazy fallback device for a story not strong enough to clearly define its characters or make its points.

Inspired by memories of writer/director Mike Mills, this quasi-autobiographical tale covers very familiar territory: one that tracks an older single mother raising a teenage son with the help of two women from younger generations (it takes a village of marketable multi-quadrant age demographics, apparently). For something allegedly so personal, it’s missing a singularity of voice or experience, save the standout leading turn by Annette Bening. She imbues the material with a specificity it otherwise lacks.

A series of unfortunate contrivances, “20th Century Women” is too articulate and on the nose with its dialogue and ideas to be the observant, naturalistic slice of life it’s going for (Linklater, this ain’t). It’s all just a collection of vague variations on stories we’ve seen before, absent any new insights, about the hodgepodge families we cobble together in an increasingly progressive age. Teens are experimenting, moms are worrying, and everyone’s filling the existential void with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Conflicts arise and shouting ensues, with insults that predictably hit too close to home, as the boy becomes a pawn in how the women want to express themselves.

Their tensions and rebellions have been staged a million times before, and just because the domestic factions unify by means other than a Motown group sing-along that utilizes kitchen utensils as ad-hoc microphones doesn’t make the journey any more credible. Sure, it’s less grating and preposterous than “American Beauty,” but that’s a pretty low bar for yet another tale about the empty, unfulfilled lives of well-meaning white people.

Another hiccup in this narrative’s flow is that it has too many points of view, exploring the perspectives of each central character instead of focusing on just one (the boy’s or the mom’s, preferably). Consequently, we’re left with four watered-down and oversimplified filters rather than the depth of one protagonist, or one core relationship. As the son, Lucas Jade Zumann is saddled with requisite lovelorn insecurities, and the object of his affection, played by Elle Fanning, is the angsty, self-destructive peer who mistakes an awareness of her mom’s psychotherapist aphorisms as her own sophistication. 

Greta Gerwig’s Abbie fits the era’s punk-feminist mold, but her oft-lauded wistful indie persona isn’t strong enough to carry the weight of her character’s arc, especially in contrast to Bening who towers over an ensemble stuck in the malaise of its archetypes. The cast does little more than respectably embody the shallow dimensions of what’s on the page, but Bening enriches the struggling Dorothea with thoughts unsaid, feelings guarded, and hard-earned wisdom expressed through knowing laughs, looks, and longings (including cigarette drags), but not words. If she somehow pulls off a Best Actress Oscar heist it’ll be deserved, not merely honorary.

Mills, whose gentle hand guided the superior “Beginners” (which, among its many virtues, garnered Christopher Plummer an overdue Academy Award), gives an artful, patient touch to some pretty typical proceedings. “20th Century Women” is amiable enough, definitely has its moments, and a supremely at-ease Billy Crudup sure helps, but the dysfunctional banality quickly becomes a slog. At forty minutes in, I was dreading the redundancy of eighty more.

Full Circle

A brief rundown of what’s happening at the Circle Cinema

OPENING JAN. 20

20th Century Women
See above review. Rated R.

A Man Called Ove
Based on a novel that’s been on the New York Times best-seller list for 44 weeks, this Swedish import is the tale of a grumpy 59-year-old man who still tries to look over his neighborhood with an iron fist despite having been deposed as the community’s president years earlier. A small accident caused by new neighbors leads to an unexpected friendship. Rated PG-13.

Fire at Sea
Over 100 miles south of Sicily, the island of Lampedusa became famous in recent years as a destination for African and Middle Eastern refugees. Documentarian Gianfranco Rosa takes a deep, and deeply moving, look at life on this Mediterranean island and a humanitarian crisis that calls for urgent action. Winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival 2016.

OPENING JAN. 27

Lost & Found
Winner of Best Family Film at the 2016 Bentonville Film Festival, this adventure story follows teenage brothers who embark on a treasure hunt during a summer spent on a remote and mysterious island. The film co-stars Jason Patric and Cary Elwes. Rated PG.

Things to Come
Legendary French icon Isabelle Huppert won Best Actress honors from the New York, LA, and Boston critics groups as a philosophy teacher who must endure numerous life trials and tragedies that occur in quick succession, and ultimately work to reinvent her life. French, with subtitles. Rated PG-13.

Footprints in the Dew
One of Oklahoma’s most famous cold cases was the unsolved murder of E.C. Mullendore, a prominent rancher from Osage County. Oklahoma author Dale R. Lewis lays out the bizarre facts of that fateful night in this new documentary, based on his best-selling book of the same title. After the 2 p.m. screening on Saturday, January 28, there will be a Q&A with the filmmaker. 

SPECIAL EVENTS

Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose (1993)

The Circle’s Anime Club presents this modern Japanese classic in a full HD remaster. It includes the film’s original 15-minute intro for the first time in a U.S. release. Boasting superior artwork and sequences “reminiscent of Francois Truffaut,” this critically hailed entry from the “Sailor Moon” series is a must for fans of Anime cinema. (Fri. Jan. 20 & Sat. Jan. 21,
10 p.m.)

John Wick (2014)
The Circle’s Graveyard Shift screens the instant and stylish cult classic starring Keanu Reeves, about an ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. Perfect prep for the upcoming “John Wick: Chapter 2,” in theaters this February. Rated R. (Fri. Jan. 27 & Sat. Jan. 28, 10 p.m.)

Screen Actors Guild Awards
A free viewing party of the annual awards show gala, with complimentary finger snacks/trivia/giveaways. The SAG Awards is a major pre-cursor for establishing Oscar frontrunners in all acting categories. Legend Lily Tomlin will receive the guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award. (Sun. Jan. 29, 7 p.m.)

For more from Jeff, read his picks for the best movies of 2016.