A movie so horrifying it should have come along for Halloween, the disastrous Darling Companion was originally reviewed for DVDsnapshot.
Our Take:
The Baby Boomer audience has
found itself aged out of those prime demographics all advertisers and
movie studios love to reach and, as such, is woefully under-served by
today's film market. Lawrence and Meg Kasdan's independent feature
Darling Companion seems
targeted to reach the same share of this audience perhaps only
currently served by Nancy Meyers. Here a group of characters -
accomplished, successful, and thankfully more realistic than Meyers
tend to be - gather for a weekend of short, supposedly heart-warming
character story-arcs that, in the end, add up to little.
Baby
Boomers Beth and Joseph (Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline) spar over an
adopted stray dog (twee-ly named “Freeway”) that fills Beths's
empty nest while also bringing their gratingly germaphobic daughter
Grace (the usually wonderful Elizabeth Moss) together with the kind
of dashing single Vet (hey, he's still a doctor) who mostly seems to
only exist in movies and, one would assume, romance novels.
After Grace's wedding at their
sumptuously-appointed vacation home, the remaining guests wind up
looking for the runway plot-device... I mean, “dog,” while also
dealing with their own issues. Beth and Joseph have to work on both
their marriage and her obsessive attachment to the dog; an animal so
worried about you'll want turn his name into a drinking game.
Joseph's sister Penny (Dianne Wiest) and her new boyfriend Russell
(Richard Jenkins) have to come to terms with, seemingly, the downward
mobility that comes with a later-in-life change of career. Meanwhile,
Penny's son Bryan (Mark Duplass) grow up and work on his new father
figure issues with the help of Carmen the caretaker (Ayelet Zurer).
She's a mystical gypsy so filled with folksy wisdom she was probably
that stereotypical old chestnut, the “magical old black man,” in
the script's first draft. Though she claims to have psychic visions
of the dog, you suspect she might just like making rich people jump
through hoops.
Darling Companion is top-heavy with big name actors, but the wattage is wasted here with this slight fluff. Keaton falls back on shtick (a disservice to her talents), while Kline's character consists of a collection of terms which invoke a writer with a medical dictionary as opposed to a real doctor. He also nearly gets himself killed more than once due to bad judgment, an important quality in a fictional surgeon. Perhaps most disappointing of all is seeing Sam Shepard as a supporting grumpy old man.
Darling Companion is top-heavy with big name actors, but the wattage is wasted here with this slight fluff. Keaton falls back on shtick (a disservice to her talents), while Kline's character consists of a collection of terms which invoke a writer with a medical dictionary as opposed to a real doctor. He also nearly gets himself killed more than once due to bad judgment, an important quality in a fictional surgeon. Perhaps most disappointing of all is seeing Sam Shepard as a supporting grumpy old man.
This movie is gorgeous and expensive
looking, from the Utah mountain vistas to Keaton's Mother of the
Bride garb. There's a website
called “White People Problems” that may come to mind while
watching these well-heeled people lose their grip over their lost
pet. While something we all do, I'm not sure anyone wants to see
their attachment to their pet played out in irrational near-hysteria
on the big screen. This graying pack of shaggy dogs are still
in the game, but they're cell-phoning it in here, sliding along with
the story into easy characterization and enjoying their two months
filming in Utah.
Official Synopsis:
In Darling Companion,
Beth (Diane Keaton) saves a bedraggled lost dog from the side of the
freeway on a wintry day in Denver. Struggling with her distracted,
self-involved husband Joseph (Kevin Kline)
and an empty nest at home. Beth forms a
special bond with the rescued animal. When Joseph loses the dog after
a wedding at their vacation home in the Rockies, the distraught Beth
enlists the help of the few remaining guests and a mysterious young
woman (Ayelet Zurer) in a frantic search. Each member of the search
party is affected by the adventure, which takes them in unexpected
directions – comic, harrowing, sometimes deeply emotional, and
ultimately towards love.
Audio & Video:
Audio is available in English and
Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD and Spanish 5.1 Stereo while the
handsomely-photographed visuals are crisp and clear. Details like
fluttering leaves and shadow patterns can make you feel like you're
outside when watching this. Even with only stereo audio, rain sounds
like it surrounds you.
Special Features:
- Commentary with Lawrence Kasdan, Meg Kasdan, and Kevin Kline
- Darling Companion: Behind the Scenes (5 minute featurette)
- Behind the Scenes: Lawrence Kasdan (5 minute featurette)
- Finding Freeway: Dog People (3.5 minute featurette)
- Red Carpet New York Premier: Lawrence Kasdan, Meg Kasdan, Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest, Casey (the Dog) (nearly 3 minute featurette)
- Subtitles in English, English SDH, Portuguese, and Spanish for both audio and commentary tracks
- Theatrical Trailer and Previews
Conclusion:
An A-list cast works really, really
hard but achieves more tics than truth in Darling Companion.
Fluff aimed at the woefully under-served older audience, but somewhat
(somehow?) endearing by the end.
Overall Picture:
Movie: C-
Audio: A-
Video: A-
Extras: A-
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