Richard Poe & Edie McClurg
by Charles Tatum
“An almost perfect independent film”
5 stars
C. Fraser and Darren Press create a family affair in this very funny comedy/drama.
Theresa (C. Fraser Press) is an unsuccessful singer in New York City freshly evicted from her apartment with her three daughters. She drives back to her hometown, and stays with her parents Roy and Cloris (the excellent Richard Poe and Edie McClurg), and tries to find work in the small town. There is a family tragedy that haunts Theresa, and has never really been addressed by her parents. As her daughters try to fit in, and Roy and Cloris’ lives are disrupted, Theresa tries to balance responsibility and her rebellious attitude.
This is not one of those “I don’t need a man to stand on my own” stories. Theresa is, in fact, a mess. Her punk-inspired songs are atrocious. Her relationship with her parents is so strained, they don’t recognize their own granddaughters. She does finally get a job mowing lawns by under bidding the only local Jewish boy (Matthew Gumley), and is later hired by the boy’s clueless father to write a song for a bar mitzvah. Part of the charm of the film is that Theresa and her family are so flawed.
The cast is outstanding, across the board. The Press daughters are professional and turn in actual performances. McClurg and Poe have a great chemistry, and play the broad comic scenes (the hot tub parties) as well as the dramatic very well.