The film opens with a moving company bringing in Fred’s
possessions, under the unwanted supervision of Fred’s daughter Lydia (Marcia
Gay Harden). There’s a cute moment where she makes a demand of the building’s
supervisor, leading him to make a phone call: “Get me a ladder. Yeah, I
know. I hate ladders, and I’m always falling off ‘em, but this woman is driving
me crazy.” Fred’s wife has died, and he’s moving into an apartment on his
own. Though he says he can look after himself, Lydia worries about him being
alone and has hired a caregiver, Laverne (Erika Alexander, in a really good
performance).
It isn’t long before Elsa and Fred meet. Upon hearing
that Fred’s wife died only seven months ago, Elsa tells him: “The first year
is the most painful. But you’ll get over it.” Fred replies: “I’m already
over it. We hated each other.” Fred is adorably grumpy and wishes to stay
inside all day, while Elsa is decidedly more active, though with an equally
active imagination and a slight obsession with the film La Dolce Vita,
leading to several fabrications. She lives a life much of her own creation,
which is admirable even when it leads to mendacity.
Fred is unhappy, and you get the feeling he’s been that
way throughout most of his life, in large part because an accident kept him
from pursuing his one real love of performing music. Though Fred is the grumpy
old man, Christopher Plummer never lets the performance drift into cliché. Fred
feels like a real person. Partly this is due to the writing, as when Fred
explains that he’d rather do nothing at this point than to do things with
mediocre results. You can feel both the frustration and the pride when he tells
Elsa: “I don’t do anything so-so. I never have, until now. Now I’m old,
everything is so-so.”
There are so many wonderful moments, like when Fred goes
to buy flowers and admits to the clerk he has no idea what to purchase. The
clerk asks if this is his first time buying flowers for the woman, and he says
yes, so we assume the flowers are for Elsa. But we then see him placing them on
his wife’s grave, which says so much about him, about his life, about their
marriage, their relationship, and about where he is now. So much is done with
just a couple of very short scenes.
Sure, some stuff seems contrived, like Fred’s kitchen
pipes exploding. And I could do without the scene where they leave the
restaurant without paying the bill (a scene we also saw in Le Week-End).
But this is a sweet and completely delightful film, which is also often quite
funny. It really hinges on the two main performances, which are both excellent.
These are two actors who are just so enjoyable to watch. The film, by the way,
is based on the 2005 Argentinian film Elsa Y Fred.
Special Features
The DVD includes a featurette on the making of the film,
with interviews with director Michael Radford, producer Ed Saxon,
cinematographer Mike McDonough, as well as cast members Christopher Plummer,
Shirley MacLaine, Marcia Gay Harden, Erika Alexander, James Brolin, Scott
Bakula, Chris Noth and Jaime Camil. About Elsa, Shirley MacLaine says, “She’s
the hardest character I’ve ever played.” There is also some
behind-the-scenes footage, including some shots of Christopher Plummer playing
piano. This featurette is approximately nineteen minutes.
The DVD also includes the film’s trailer.
Elsa & Fred was released on DVD on December
30, 2014 through Millennium Entertainment.
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