a LANDLINE musing

In LANDLINE, the dynamics of a troubled family in 1995 New York are explored with all the charm and truthfulness in the world. Jenny Slate plays Dana, a late-20s working woman who is soon to be married, with her parents, Alan & Pat, being played by John Turturro and Edie Falco. Dana’s high school-aged sister Ali, played by Abby Quinn, is ripely aged to be a rebellious teen. While Ali discovers her father is cheating on her mother, Dana cheats on her fiancee, and the sisters’ rocky relationship begins to mend once they confide in each other.

All the actors are at the top of their game here: Jenny Slate is so charming and great at playing hipster-y cute girls; John Turturro brings great pain in his performance; Falco is so strong and adept at playing a mother; while Quinn, a newcomer, holds her own against these established actors. We get a few tropes, like multiple scenes in a row with revelations or crescendoing arguments, but they all get subverted, in a way, by the charm of everyone involved. The characters are so well written and relatable, with the script doing the film many favors.

Unfortunately, overall, LANDLINE just didn’t pop for me. It’s charm makes it easy to fall in love with, but it didn’t connect in the end.

RATING: DIDN’T WASTE MY MONEY

(Refer to my rating system HERE!)