Inside look at a family in crisis
What They Had
★★★1/2 (out of 4) Starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster and Blythe Danner. Written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko. Opens Friday at Canada Square. 101 minutes. 14A
As baby boomers head into their twilight years, What They
Had tells a story that will be increasingly familiar.
What sets the film apart is the literate and insightful script by Elizabeth Chomko, who also directs, and a cast of stellar performers.
Bridget and daughter Emma head back to frigid Chicago for Christmas, but the real issue is mom Ruth, whose late-night flight into a blustery snowstorm is the latest indication that her dementia is reaching a crisis point. Brother Nick has a place lined up for her to go where she’ll be safe, but dad Burt is adamant that he can care for her in the family home.
Tossed into the mix is Emma’s strained relationship with her mother, Bridget’s estrangement from her husband and Nick’s own troubles in keeping his business, a bar, a going concern. That general dissatisfaction with life, the disappointments we all have, is another signif- icant element of the story and something audiences can surely relate to.
So it may seem to be rather a downer but in Chomko’s and the cast’s capable hands, it’s a story that doesn’t just wallow in melancholy; it also offers life lessons in making peace with what is by facing it honestly and trying to make it better.
Hilary Swank is, as always, superb and brilliant as Bridget, but then so is Michael Shannon as Nick and Robert Forster as dear old dad Burt. But Blythe Danner deserves special mention for her portrayal of Ruth, a carefully nuanced and calibrated performance that breathes authen- ticity. You’re going to find yourself moved and occasionally amused in all the best ways.
Chomko enriches the story by recreating Ruth and Burt’s early relationship through manufactured archival footage, and the music by Danny Mulhern provides just the right sort of accompaniment throughout.