The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

(Based on a casual viewing in Apr-15)To begin with, it was not an easy film-viewing experience; however, Ned Benson​ sure did a good job at directing but, mostly at writing. Though, I am still quite confounded about what conclusion should be drawn from this strangely sentimental, tragic stricken romantic-drama about a married couple falling apart; which is the reason perhaps not to watch it again, or to skip it altogether. Still, there is a dull-sense of association that one could form while watching this certain production.The film proved to be somewhat a surreal viewing experience when observing closely the treatment of a really difficult, helpless and hopeless situation heightened by the mind's own stress and insecurities, on a general scale. It may not be the best in a while, still it stands quite unconventional just because of the aforementioned, even in its stereotypical plotting.Beautifully portrayed by James McAvoy,​ and by the formidably outstanding and one of my personal favourites - Jessica Chastain​, with both characterisations above mark, but it's actually their on-screen chemistry worth a lot more, and perhaps the best reason to watch this film; and also the other two parts of this trilogy.Rating - 6/10

The sadness of being an incorrigible completist, I have to finish all these three films before writing my review, Ned Benson's ambitious feature-length debut is a post-trauma story of a young couple Conor (McAvoy) and Eleanor (Chastain) in New York after losing their child in an unspecified accident, HIM centres on Conor and HER centres on Eleanor in the same time period, then interweaves these two versions together, there arrives THEM, one can get an overall view of their paralleled life. So basically, I have watched the same movie twice, and certain scenes three times where the path of Conor and Eleanor converges. The premise is soundingly intriguing, as often cornily referred as two separate cerebral hemispheres, the film allows viewers to observe how men and women think and act differently towards the same scenario, in this case, a heartbroken tragedy. In HIM, the movie starts with one of their most intimate memory before their bereavement, an inadvertent thrill in their ordinary life sparks strong romance with Conor amorously says: "There is only one heart in this body, please have mercy on me". Then it jumps to several months of the aftermath, Eleanor uses an extreme method to declare that their life can not sustain as the status quo, they need to take a break. Conor doesn't understand why she needs her alone-time for her grievance, he is equally heartbroken, but he is ready to move on, leaving the tragedy behind with a seal on it, not to mention and keeps living on afterwards. He opens a bar with his best friend Stuart (Hader) and a flirty barmaid Alexis (Arianda) who is ready to "falling in love with him madly if he allows her". Meanwhile his father Spencer (Hinds) owns a successful restaurant named after Conor's mother, whom he dumped ages ago, it is also a thorny decision for him whether or not to swallow his pride to admit failure and take the restaurant inasmuch as his bar is on the brink of bankrupt, it is a privileged struggle as a rich kid's blues. In HER, no romantic prologue, Eleanor is introduced in her abrupt suicidal behaviour, then she returns to her bourgeoisie parents living in the suburb (played by Hurt and Huppert, he is a university professor and she is French), she goes back to the college and takes a class of professor Lillian Friedman (Davis), before long Conor finds out her whereabouts, stalks her in the street, in the classroom and eagerly to reconnect. As Hurt carefully phrases "Tragedy is a foreign country, we don't know how to talk to the natives", Conor's tentative makeup doesn't work, Eleanor needs to be over-indulged in the past for some time before finally moving forward, plus, she can spend all the time she wants in Paris, to heal her wounds, after a whimsical but failed reconnection during a pouring rain and a vis-a-vis opening-up in the middle of the night, it is rather tedious for her to realise that she should take a real break out of the Tri-state area. The disparity erected between each and every individuals cannot be compromised, only when they arrive in the same page with the same pace, they may have a chance to start anew as a couple. As often as he can, Benson intends to throw snappy verbal rejoinders to sound posh or vivacious, but most of the time they are ill-placed ("Now YOU sound maternal" throwaway) and uninspired, as most of the dialogues verge on beating around the bush either without any substantial function or being painstakingly predictable. Yet the two leads is recommendable in any rate, so it is safe to say the film is perfect for McAvoy and Chastain's stalwarts, both set off a full gamut of emotional overhaul and not to mention many close-ups to let their fans luxuriate in the idolatry. Among the eclectic supporting cast, Huppert radiates in every scene simply by holding a glass of red wine in her hand, and Davis thrusts her raw gravitas into her casual bantering with her THE HELP (2010, 8/10) co- star, as an outsider, she is the one who pierces through the surface without any scruples, only if she could have more screen time in it. The indie soundtrack is an understandable trapping of the prevalent mumblecore output, it's ambient, moody and meditative, tailor-made to outline the disposition of the storyline. Collectively speaking, the films attempt to be artistic and unique, it could have hit the bull- eye with all such a talented group, only if it could subtract the permeating tint of narcissism, and conjure up some more salient epiphany. At last, the THEM version abridges some minor sequences and merges HIM and HER with an intact take on the proceedings. There is no new scenes added, so one can choose to watch HIM and HER, or THEM, either is sufficiently competent to disclose its allure and drawbacks.

Undecided between the HER and HIM version of the disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, I opted for n.3, the THEM version.I thought that the allegedly objective third-part view would spare me the more individual approach of Eleanor and Conor (the HER and HIM of the story). I might have gone for the wrong movie, since most critics agree this is much more a snooze feast than the other two.However, after having spent two hours of my life with Eleanor and Conor, I can definitely do without any more sides of their story. In a nutshell, rich and privileged couple get together, reproduce and lose the baby. We are not told how, as if this is just a detail, and perhaps it is.What we are given is plenty of exquisite and inarticulate suffering, emoted by Chastain (Eleanor) and more discomfort, expressed in a more controlled way by McAvoy (Conor). Much as I find them both fine actors, I did start to have enough of their suffering half way through.In fact, everybody suffers in the movie, inclusive of their families and friends, all recoiling from the shock of the loss and having to cope with grief. Hence, two hours of undiluted but restrained pain make for an uncomfortable viewing experience. Nothing is resolved at the end, enhancing the frustration.

The movie really push the viewers' edge in telling it's story. It kind of run on a badly too stable mood for all the entire two hour run time. The story gets to be that frustrating because it kind of uses the weirdest editing style I have ever seen. It makes one feels a bit thrown off in watching this movie. It took me some time to notice that the story flow actually uses the alternating back and forth flow direction. I learned that this movie is actually the cinema release of the two versions Him and Her, each at about 90 and 100 minutes. Well, considering from this movie's atmosphere, that would have been a pretty stressful time to spend by watching those movies. But on the other hand, the acting work is surprisingly a great work in overall, especially by the two lead cast James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. They both exhibit really nice character involvement in those engaging scenes of strong emotion play. I really like how James played Conor when he has an argument with his friend at the bar. Jessica Chastain did a great job in portraying the difficult emotions Eleanor has.