Susan Granger’s review of “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” (The Weinstein Company)
Writer/director Ned Benson captures various aspects of a marital relationship in this composite of two earlier versions of the film, relating the same New York-set tale from the spouses’ different perspectives.
Far from Paul McCartney’s British spinster, this Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain) is an irrepressibly beautiful woman who adores her husband, Conor Ludlow (James McAvoy). But when tragedy strikes in the form of the death of their baby son, their marriage collapses. While their loss is a devastating blow to both of them, each responds differently. In their sorrow, they have lost the power to communicate to one another and cannot seem to reconnect. While he holds his grief in, taking after his distant father (Ciaran Hinds), and struggles to maintain the Village restaurant/bar he owns, she tries to commit suicide, jumping off a bridge. After she’s rescued, she runs home to her parents (Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt) in Westport, submerging herself in sadness.
If you can forgive the misguided titular Beatles reference, it’s an innovative, intriguing experiment in parallel film-making. But, after seeing “Her” (which detailed Eleanor’s perspective) and “Him” (which relates Conor’s point-of-view) back-to-back and contrasting them, the amalgam “Them” gets more than a bit tedious, given first-time filmmaker Ned Benson’s plodding pace. Jessica Chastain is elegantly brittle yet touching, while James McAvoy epitomizes sulky, melancholy desperation. In addition, there are memorable supporting performances from Viola Davis as Eleanor’s college professor, Jess Weixer as her sympathetic sister, and Bill Hader as Conor’s cook and best-friend.
The backstory is that after Harvey Weinstein bought the rights to “Her” and “Him” at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, he decided to consolidate Benson’s ambitious concept into “Them.” Problem is: it doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts. “Them” doesn’t repeat scenes to show the conflicting viewpoints and how memories differ as they struggle to overcome their anguish – and that makes it less emotionally compelling.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” is a sensitive, sorrowful 7, a love-gone-awry trilogy.
