THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY – The Review

If the rapidly falling temps didn’t drive the notion home, the release of the new film should definitely tell you that Summer is over, time to get serious. Really serious. For this is not a love story, but rather an end of love story. Or to be precise the end of a marriage. First time feature director, and the film’s screenwriter, Ned Benson had the notion of putting a he/she spin on this tale of romantic disintegration. It would be two features with the subtitles her and him, so one would be from the husband POV, the other from the wife. After showing the pair at the Toronto film fest in 2013, Benson then decided to combine the two into the single film now in release. Word is that the duo flicks may get a very limited release next month, but for now let’s travel that rocky to love’s end via THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY.

Benson begins the film with a flashback to happy times as the couple, Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) and Conor (James McAvoy) giggle through a NYC restaurant dinner romp capped off by a roll on the grass of a public park illuminated by the moon and several lightning bugs. We’re then quickly thrust to the present day as Eleanor almost makes a fatal mistake, perhaps it’s a desperate cry for help. Soon she’s living in the suburban house she grew up in with her kid sister (who’s got her own adorable tot) Katy (Jess Weixler), retired musician mother Mary (Isabelle Huppert), and concerned college prof pop Julian (William Hurt). At her father’s suggestion Eleanor returns to the city for some classes at Cooper Union taught by the cynical, acerbic Professor Friedman (Viola Davis), who soon becomes a mentor and confidant. Meanwhile Conor continues to attempt to contact Eleanor. He’s forced to move back in with his estranged successful restaurateur father Spencer (Ciaran Hinds) as his own bar/eatery struggles to survive. Luckily Conor is aided by his best pal and chef Stuart (Bill Hader) and flirty bartender/hostess Alexis (Nina Arianda). As the couple attempt to reconcile, we slowly learn of the tragedy that broke them apart, one that may completely extinguish their love for good.

Chastain is the film’s damaged, but still beating heart as the woman wanting to move forward, but still held back by a heartbreaking past. It will be interesting to see if her solo version of the story can possibly add more to this complex soul than this combined piece. Chastain shows us Eleanor’s fragile state in the first scenes and we slowly get to see her struggle to break free and begin again. There’s anger and disappointment with her spouse, but the affection tries to return. The conversations with Friedman reveal her strength and returning humor while we get a hint of that playful side in her exchanges with Katy. This is another complex character in Chastain’s impressive screen resume. McAvoy holds his own as her partner, whose life and career seem to be in a downward spiral. As his business implodes, he desperately reaches back out to his wife. Conor may not be able to fix the bistro, but he’ll fix his marriage. He too must deal with the anger and heartbreak, but without a strong family base. Benson has assembled a stellar supporting cast. Hader follows up his excellent lead work in THE SKELETON TWINS with a terrific sidekick turn as the sarcastic chief providing such more needed comic relief. Davis takes her surly teacher role and twists it into a tough older sister/sounding board for Eleanor. Hinds is clueless distant dad who can only assist his son financially and not emotionally. Huppert is an exotic, nurturing Earth mother who doesn’t quite know how to break through her daughter sadness. The real standout may be Hurt’s quiet, restrained work as the academic trying to find the tools to repair his broken family. The scene in which he relates the harrowing story of a day at the beach in France with baby Eleanor is spellbinding.

With all the wonderful acting showcased, it’s a pity that the film seems to meander, often unfocused. Subplots involving illicit flings and brief flashbacks of joyous passion subvert the pacing and drain off needed energy. The New York locations gave the proceeding a great backdrop, but the main story is too much a mystery. By the final scenes we get enough information to understand what prompted Eleanor’s actions in the film’s first moments, but we are kept in the dark for much of the heated conversations between the couple. This film is still essential for any fans of the two lead actors, and for fans of great acting in general. Let’s hope the solo versions do get some set of release, even if it’s only in a deluxe home video edition because the talents of Chastain and McAvoy make THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY a mystery well worth pursuing.

3.5 Out of 5

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas