3 Generations (2017)

Call me fascist or reactionary, but what a disgusting Age we live in. I am particularly disgusted with Naomi watts for her choice of bedmate. I know this is just a movie, but movies about gender freaks just freak me out.

Liked the movie. A little long. Had some cute funny moments. Good acting. Happy I rented the movie.

Had potential to address the subject of gender identification and its challenges, but just turned out to drag on about dysfunctional family life. Usual matriarchal extended family substituting for divorced mom with a challenging daughter/son. Just droned on (and overacted), in that typical NY writing style, about unhappy households with their endless arguing. That region of the country has an unhealthy fixation with stereotypical rom/coms; drinking parties for singles or wannabe singles; dysfunctional families; hooking up with the emotional attachment of rabbits. Ending was rather hokey, everyone is at peace with each other. How nice! Kudos to Elle Fanning for how she presented her character.

This film is too talky, as the scenario is built around a string of long conversations that typically degenerate into chaos. Lost in the shuffle is the human portrait of young Ray (née Ramona), who is a sixteen-year-old who is contemplating gender confirmation surgery.The three generations of the film include your Ray, his sensitive mother Frances (Naomi Watts), and the crusty lesbian grandmother Dolly (Susan Sarandon). At the heart of the film is Frances, who struggles with signing the release form for the surgery of her son and tracking down the father, who also must be a signatory.The performances are excellent, especially Watts, whose character struggles with a secret that is eventually revealed. When young Ray learns the truth about his mother, the implications may be shattering.The characters talk up a storm to the degree that the narrative line is very thin. By contrast, one of the strengths of "The Danish Girl" was the complex and smoothly developed plotting. In the case of "3 Generations," one of the unresolved issues is who precisely is the father of young Ray. The filmmakers could have been tidier in wrapping up such details, which undoubtedly would have been of great importance to Ray.While the numerous verbal interactions were long-winded and repetitive, there was a touching scene in a Japanese restaurant that was the most emotionally satisfying in the film.