4 stars (out of 5)
Director: Nicholas Fackler
Cast: Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn, Adam Scott, Elizabeth Banks
Rating: (M)
Lovely, Still is a deceptive wee fable about love between two senior citizens that given a chance will delight anyone not seeking instant gratification.
It's the week before Christmas in the snowed-under Nebraska suburbs.
Elderly grocery bagger Robert Malone (Martin Landau) strikes off the days on his calendar and spends hours drawing doodles. Reporting to owner-manager Mike (Adam Scott), who delivers an amusing approximation of The Office's David Brent, Robert is sad and lonely until a chance encounter with Mary (Ellen Burstyn).
Aside from a few quirky Napoleon Dynamite-inspired set-ups, Lovely, Still doesn't seem to offer anything more than a tender love story. Except that for his feature debut, writer-director Nik Fackler (still in his 20s) is highly likely to be sitting on a few key details, and so it transpires.
With a small cast and relatively few locations, Fackler's ability to pull off the sleight of hand rests solely on the consummate prowess of the leads.
Landau and Burstyn are brilliant, their beautifully lined faces displaying a complete realm of emotions. If the acting looks stilted, which it does to begin with, then as we will discover, it's meant to be. Lovely, Still is a little too subtle, or clever, for its own good.
Lovely, Still was finished in 2008 and, due to a lack of interest from distributors, was mothballed. This surely is testament to how little so-called industry experts understand their audience. Anyone old enough to remember what an intermission was will lap this up; there's unlikely to be an issue with illegal downloading either.
Best thing: Martin Landau's face: the older he gets, the more mesmerising his expressions become.
Worst thing: The plodding pace.
See it with: A single senior citizen.
- Mark Orton
