Anything (2017)

You're definitely going to find Anything's strengths in its cast. Matt Bomer gives a beautiful supporting performance as the troubled transgender neighbor to Early - a character desperate to find a reason to keep living once his wife passes away. John Carroll Lynch offers seemingly everything to this role as Early. You feel for him, and with him, through the tribulations in his life. Maura Tierney also soars as the disapproving sister. Where the story lacks here and there, the characters make up for it - and the story is pretty moving and engaging enough anyway. I would have liked a bit more substance and finality to the ending, but I enjoyed it - and I recommend seeing Anything.

This movie handled the complex subject matter in a tender and loving way. The tragic loss of a spouse, the subsequent strain on family dynamics, and then an unfathomable relationship with a transgender: All of this could have been a formula for triteness, overacting and unintended humor. But the writer and the cast pulled it off beautifully and, in this process, created a heart-warming story. John Carroll Lynch was excellent --- handling a wide range of emotions in a subtle but most effective manner. A film worth watching.

Greetings again from the darkness. If you've always wanted to see a movie about "Andy Griffith's sad brother", this is the one for you. That's actually the description one of the characters has for Early, the depressed widower we come to know. Houston-born writer/director Timothy McNeil's first feature film is adapted from his own stage production. It's surprisingly intimate and emotional while avoiding many of the clichés we might be braced for, given the subject matter.John Carroll Lynch (FARGO, ZODIAC) plays Early as a soft-spoken, mild-mannered gentleman from Mississippi. In the immediate aftermath of the tragic death of his wife, Early is dazed. He is sleep-walking through life right up to the point of an attempted suicide. Faced with the choice of a psychiatric hospital or moving cross country to live with family, Early obviously chooses the Brentwood home of his studio executive sister Laurette (Maura Tierney). Sister Laurette means well, but her controlling persona and determination to "fix" things, leads Early to find his own place. He picks a sketchy apartment complex with 'eclectic' neighbors, one of which is Freda (Matt Bomer), a transgender sex worker. Though they appear to be from different planets, she is drawn to his inherent kindness and strength of character, while he is drawn to her vitality and courage. A bond develops.It's fascinating to watch the friendship grow, and despite another neighbor, Brianna, (Margot Bingham) calling him "cracker" and do-gooder, it's clear there is mutual respect amongst the complex residents. When Early invites his family to a dinner party with Freda, awkward and cruel are merely the first adjectives that come to mind. It doesn't go well, and harsh judgements abound.Early is a simple man, but Mr. Lynch's performance ensures he is never a simple character. Mr. Bomer is terrific as Freda, though some will surely protest that a transgender actor was not cast. Plenty of sharp humor accompanies the deep drama, and we are reminded that love is really about the acceptance of others, and finding meaning and connection in life. It's a small scale film that draws us into the characters, and we find ourselves grasping at hope for each of them.

I saw this yesterday at an advanced screening. I have to say that I went in not really expecting much and came away really impressed. I woke up this morning with elements of the story still running through my mind It was a very interesting story well told. It's mostly a movie about LA but the opening, which take place in a small Southern town, tells us all we need to about the 'back story' in just a few moments with very few words. Everything centers on a character named Early, played by John Carroll Lynch. He is a man of few words and so much of the movie's style revolves around that. However, Early is book-ended by two very different, but equally 'outspoken', women. In fact, sometimes both seem incapable of knowing when a bit of silence would be appropriate. However, a third woman is always in the background. We never see her but, in one of the loveliest scenes in the film, we hear her words which are simple, clear and affectionate. I think that perhaps dealing with the loud and theatrical personality of the woman with whom he is now fascinated, is more of a stretch for Early than dealing with her gender. A word about Matt Bomer: If memory serves there was something of an uproar from trans activists when he was cast in this part. I admit that I was somewhat skeptical that he could pull it off. However I have to say that Freda was a memorable, and totally believable, screen character. I suppose there was some Matt Bomer in her somewhere but I didn't really see it or feel it. It was an amazing piece of work. Bomer is an out gay actor who was totally convincing playing a straight romantic lead in White Collar, and who then moved on to break my heart playing closeted Felix in The Normal Heart. I can't wait for The Boys in the Band, opening soon on Broadway. This movie has a lot of supportive things to say about Freda, an attractive and interesting trans woman. In my opinion it would be a shame if trans activists were to decide to shoot themselves in the foot..... to shoot the entire trans community in the foot actually..... by trying to deny it an audience. I might point out that Boys in the Band was attacked as being an 'incorrect' depiction of gay life when it originally played. I might add that if one insists that a cisgender actor should not be cast to play a transgender character then it follows that a transgender actor should not be cast to play a cisgender character.