Still, Place makes it worth the somewhat troubled journey. These choices felt ill-judged after witnessing the beautifully realized story which comes before. Was the entire film a memory piece told by the person we see at the end? Did we witness a dream or a flashback? The passage of time seems clumsy and the POV shots feel overused. By the end, I truly had no idea what I had just seen. Had he shot the whole film with a more sweeping fashion, he may have succeeded with these scenes. As they play out, these scenes feel more confusing than anything else. Using slow motion techniques, dream sequences, and an almost incomprehensible final scene don't feel supported by his otherwise simple filmmaking style. Sounds better than a 3 Star review, you say? Well, unfortunately, Jones makes some choices late into the film which derailed things for me. Jones knows these people and allows their back stories to unfold with minimal exposition. Late in the second act, his character takes an odd turn, one I didn't see coming and am not sure is successfully rendered, but it all leads to an incredible third act scene between the two where in one line, he sums up their complicated relationship so perfectly. Lacy matches Place with a wildly unpredictable performance filled with manipulative guilt trips and viciousness. You get the sense there's an unspoken past which informs Diane's intensity, and once revealed, you come to understand the repetitive circle of her life. The main thrust of the story centers on her relationship with her son. Bobbie may be clueless as she complains about having to host a family Christmas while sitting across from a friend who lives alone and is worried sick that he son could die at any minute, but their friendship clearly has room for the occasional tone deaf pronouncements.
Here and there, Diane lunches with her friend Bobbie (the great Andrea Martin), and their complaint sessions have such a raw intensity.
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Rarely stopping at Diane's own house, the film consists of a repeated series of visits to friends and family, focusing on the building resentments, the aching passage of time, and a lot of deaths. Occasionally, he'll punctuate acts with shots of his wintry town from behind the wheel of a car, establishing a slow, laconic rhythm to the film. Jones employs a basic, straightforward approach to his filmmaking, imbuing his talky scenes with a lived-in aesthetic and an eavesdropping, docu-style camera.
We've all seen this character before, the pillar of the community who never takes time for herself, but Place makes her so real, so exhausted, and yet, thoroughly relatable.
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She visits her dying cousin (Deirdre O'Connell ) in the hospital, delivers casseroles to sick friends, ladles mac and cheese to the homeless at the local soup kitchen, and most importantly bursts in on her drug-addicted son Brian (Jake Lacy) in one gut-wrenching attempt after another to get him back into rehab. DIANE, the narrative feature debut of New York Film Festival Director and documentarian Kent Jones (HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT), has its many flaws, but as a showcase for Place, it's unmissable.ĭiane, a widow in rural Massachusetts, spends all of her time in service to others. Now, all this time later, she finally gets the leading role of her career, and it seems all those decades toiling away on the sidelines has given her the right edge to tap into the ferocity this great role deserves. She's been a bright-spirited American treasure ever since, but always in supporting roles. I've been a fan of Mary Kay Place ever since her breakthrough performance as Loretta Haggers on the 70s Norman Lear classic, MARY HARTMAN. A PERFECT PLACE - My Review of DIANE (3 Stars)
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