MALADIES – The Review

Perhaps Natasha Leggero said it best on Comedy Central’s Roast, when attempting to explain James Franco’s choice in artistic endeavors…

First I was wondering why James Franco would do this roast, and then I saw Spring Breakers and I was like, “Oh! He’ll do anything!”

Being fully aware I was choosing to watch a film starring James Franco, I was entirely unprepared for what I was getting into, which is a conundrum commonly associated with watching anything starring James Franco.

MALADIES is written and directed by multimedia artist Carter. This is Carter’s first feature-length film. Combining the quirkiness of Spike Jonze — but more mellow — and complex philosophical musings like those of Charlie Kaufman — but less dizzying — MALADIES manages first to catch me off guard, then just as my interest slowly begins to dwindle I am captured in a random moment of realization that I am enjoying the film.

James Franco plays, well… himself. Not officially, but the film eludes to the presumption. James is an actor, retired early. Either by choice, or not. This detail remains up in the air the entire film. Now, James is a writer. He is writing a book. No, James is struggling, somewhat, to write his book. After a short, yet successful career as a Soap Opera star, James put away his thespian masks due to a perceived mental illness. Stricken with memory loss, confusion and spells of dizziness, James now resides in a small town along with his adorably deranged sister Patricia, played by Fallon Goodson, and his best friend Catherine, played by Catherine Keener. Together, we witness their lives and how each of their respective character flaws, or maladies, play out in each others’ company.

MALADIES begins with a long, slow opening sequence depicting two men in alternating shots, quietly walking or sitting in reflection. Meanwhile, we hear narration from a calm, familiar-sounding voice waxing poetically about our central character, James. Not until the narrator begins to verbally interact with James, do we truly realize something is different about this film. This is just one of the various unorthodox methods Carter uses to set his film apart from the crowd. At times, James himself even takes to narrating his own thought process.

The charm of MALADIES comes to fruition only through James’ interaction with his sister, his best friend, and another older man named Delmar, played by David Strathairn. Despite his obvious symptoms, James is perhaps the most grounded and stable of these four characters. Patricia is sweet, but absent-minded and completely at a loss for living within reality as we know it, while Catherine is a self-absorbed, often unlikable artist. Catherine does not particularly like Patricia, while Patricia really wouldn’t know it if it were painted in bright red 10-foot tall  letters everywhere she looked. Delmar, on the other hand, is a very likable, albeit curiously eccentric character. Strathairn seems to conjure up a strong presence of Jimmy Stewart for his performance, but it works well. Together, these three do their best, in their own ways, to take care of James in his currently fractured state of mind.

MALADIES moves at a comfortably slow pace, establishing some depth to the characters. There is a spontaneity to the script that stands out, awkwardly tossing curve balls into the story to keep the viewer on their toes while inducing the occasional double-take. Wait, did he just say that? Or, those moments where you think you know what will happen, but then something completely different occurs. You go along at first as if you were right, then realize you were totally not right. MALADIES definitely maintains a slight hint of improvisation, but never so much that it feels winged or incoherent.

Meandering. This is a word that describes MALADIES. Seemingly shuffling along an uncertain path of aimless neurotic exposition, only to suddenly stumble upon a smile. This is how I experienced watching the film. This is not a happy film, but it will warm your heart and inspire some laughter. This is not a sad film, but there are reasons you will feel concern or empathy for the characters. Carter proves he has a cinematic vision worthy of an audience. Carter has not created a perfect film, by any sense of the word, but he has succeeded in making me think and allowing me to laugh. On any good day, this is a winning cinematic concoction.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Available on iTunes & VOD: March 25, 2014. Select theatrical release beginning: March 21, 2014.