This one
came to my local theater back when it was released, but barely – it was only
around for a week or two, and it came out amid a number of other movies I
wanted to see, so I missed it, despite being really interested in it. Although it’s coming out on DVD tomorrow, I
knew I wouldn’t have time to rent it and see it before the Oscars, but luckily,
it was still playing in one discount theater within reasonable-ish driving
range.
The true
story of Lee Israel, a frustrated entertainment biographer struggling to make
ends meet because “no one wants another biography about Fanny Brice.” In urgent need of cash, she stumbles upon a
unique, albeit criminal, means of generating funds: forging embellished letters from the stars of
yesteryear. By imitating the voices of
Dorothy Parker, Noël Coward, and more, slipping in hints of salaciousness to
garner heftier payouts from collectors, Lee feels she’s finally taken control
of her own destiny. The only question
is, how long can she keep the racket going?
I thought
this movies was excellent. The plot is
tight, with the right amounts of tension, humor, and character study worked
into this fine con-woman tale. I love
seeing the little details about the tricks of Lee’s trade and the way her
Achilles’ heel as a biographer – she’s so good at disappearing behind her
subject matter that no one knows who she is, thus having no interest in giving
her an advance – is her secret weapon here.
I also just enjoy the particular world that the film inhabits, full of
rare book shops, collectors’ auctions, and people who take such relish in the
(supposed) correspondence of celebrities who’ve long since left us. It’s no surprise to me that the film was
nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, although I also want to highlight
Marielle Heller’s direction, which strikes such a great tone throughout.
The film’s
other nominations are for the acting, Melissa McCarthy for Leading Actress and
Richard E. Grant for Supporting Actor, and both of them are superb. McCarthy’s Lee is a prickly grouch who doesn’t
play well with others, but she also brings out the sympathy in her character. Lee is driven, not just by her immediate need
for money, but also by her gnawing sense that she ought to have done more with
her life by now, and it’s neat to see just how fulfilled she is by her forgery
work. I do think the Academy has a
tendency to get a little overexcited when traditionally-comedic actors take on
more dramatic roles, but for me, this is a case akin to Jim Carrey’s
performance in Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind, in which the praise is wholly justified. Grant, meanwhile, is clearly having a ball as
Lee’s ne’er-do-well friend Jack. They’re
two kind-of-awful people who are oddly compatible together, and McCarthy and
Grant are stellar in all their scenes together.
The film also features Jane Curtin and Marc Evan Jackson (best known to
me as Shawn on The Good Place.)
Warnings
Drinking/smoking/drug
use, some gross-out moments, language, and sexual references.
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