Writer-director Lorene Scarfia’s personal film, aptly titled The Meddler, may be too earnest and simplistic for its own good, but it’s also likable and honest and universal in its thematic concerns.
The tale’s heroine is Marnie Minervini (Susan Sarandon), a woman who begins a new life in Los Angeles after years of living in New Jersey.
Living in an apartment near the Grove, and equipped with a new IPhone, she benefits from a comfortable bank account left by her beloved late husband
Her goal is to be closer to her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), a successful but still worryingly (from her POV) single screenwriter. Initially, Marnie fails to fully realizing that her well-intentioned and sincere affection can be smothering and even suffocating.
The dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries with her mom. Unfazed, Marnie finds ways to channel her maternal optimism and forceful generosity in order to change the lives of others, as well as her own. In the process, she also finds new meaning and real joy in her life.
Scarfia acquits herself more honorably as a writer than director, and her comedy, clearly made as a tribute to motherhood as a sacred institution, is too broad in the laughter department, turning The Meddler into an extremely old-fashioned serio comedy.
This is the kind if fare that’s perfect for the upcoming Mother’s Day, and one to which mothers and daughters (of all ages) can go together, without risking any embarrassment—or any other emotional danger.
MPAA: PG-13
Running time: 104 Minutes
