SLIFF 2015 Review – SILVER SKIES

SILVER SKIES screens Sunday November 8th at 6:45pm at The Tivoli Theater as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. The film’s director, Rosemary Rodriguez, will be in attendance and will receive SLIFF’s ‘Women in Film’ Award.Ticket information for the event can be found HERE

Review by Dana Jung. 

Today, more than ever, with our shortened attention spans, inundation by multi-media delivery systems, and almost obsessive need for instant information, it is easy to forget the wonderful actors of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s who inspired and influenced us.  So many great moments created by sometimes iconic performers live on in the movies and television of certain eras.  From Mr. Spock to Archie Bunker, Annie Hall to James Bond, or Mrs. Peel to Lieutenant Columbo, these and other memorable characters fueled everything from fashion choices to sexual fantasies.  That’s why the new film SILVER SKIES is such a wonderful gift for cinema lovers everywhere as we get to revisit some of these performers in their golden years—sort of like admiring a Van Gogh painting in the midst of an onslaught of live-streaming video.

The list of talent assembled for the film is astounding.  Barbara Bain (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, 1960s), Alex Rocco (too much to choose from….okay, FREEBIE AND THE BEAN) , George Hamilton (LOVE AT FIRST BITE and EVEL KNIEVEL, 1970s), Jack Betts (he was Django!),  Mariette Hartley (so many credits from PEYTON PLACE to GOOD MORNING AMERICA to commercials with James Garner), Howard Hesseman (WKRP IN CINCINNATI, 1980s), Valerie Perrine (SUPERMAN, 1970s), plus veteran character actor Jack McGee (RESCUE ME) are all perfectly cast, playing the elderly tenants of the senior living center of the title.  When a young attorney (Heather McComb) suddenly shows up and announces that the complex is being sold as condominiums, the seniors all scramble to come up with the money to essentially purchase their own apartment homes that they have lived in for years.

Written and directed by Rosemary Rodriguez, SILVER SKIES rarely hits a false note.  Full of genuinely touching moments and a surplus of surprisingly raunchy humor, the film unfolds in a somewhat episodic fashion that gives each one of the players many wonderful scenes.  With such an embarrassment of riches to choose from, it is extremely difficult to single out any one performance.  Bain is simply awesome as one half of a witty & acerbic couple with Betts matching her verbal sparring.  Perrine is an aging sexpot with an unexpected amount of depth and poignancy.  Rocco is a sweetheart of a guy who pines after Perrine’s lusty character, while Hamilton and McGee play best pals who must deal with Alzheimer’s.  Hamilton in particular has a great time, stealing every scene he is in, whether it’s impersonating Dean Martin, or suddenly becoming lucid enough to grasp the severity of his condition.  Hartley also shines as the mysterious new neighbor who may or may not be the answer to all their prayers.  All these amazingly gifted actors have not just one or two, but so many scenes together and with others that we’re always anxiously awaiting what comes next.

It’s also a credit to the writing that, although there are funny, even laugh-out-loud moments in the film, it has an equal amount of sometimes heavier drama to balance out the story that gives it just the right amount of wistfulness about the effects of aging.  It’s commendable that the movie avoids becoming too lightweight of a piece, and instead addresses topics such as elder abuse and assisted living in between the adult diaper jokes.  Throw in cameos by Hesseman and the late Dick Van Patten, and there’s no better way to spend a couple of hours than skipping down memory lane with the  old friends of SILVER SKIES.