The Oscars are about six weeks away, but it's time to plug in this year's contenders into my schedule. The first on my docket is May December, which is currently nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and is one of the funniest films of the year according to the Golden Globes. Your mileage may vary on that placement once I tell you what it's about.
It's 2015. Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) is a method actress who moves to Savannah to study her latest character, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore). She is the same woman who, while working at a pet shop in 1992, was caught in an inappropriate relationship with her 13-year-old co-worker Joe Yoo (Charles Melton). She and Joe eventually became married with children; their oldest, Honor (Piper Curda), was born during Gracie's prison term, while twins Mary & Charlie (Elizabeth Yu & Gabriel Chung) are about to graduate high school. Elizabeth spends her time studying Gracie's daily life, which includes interviewing a few of her past acquaintances. This immersion not only upends the Atherton-Yoos' lives but threatens to leave Elizabeth lost in character.
Yes, the backstory is basically the Mary Kay Letourneau affair with the serial numbers filed off. I was old enough to remember when the story broke even if I didn't fully understand what happened. I am old enough, however, to comprehend the intricacies of Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik's screen story. Elizabeth embodies some of these intricacies whenever she immerses herself in character. It's hard to tell whether she's just acting or actually Gracie when she rehearses a monologue at the end. It's easy to believe the latter when she talks to Mary's drama class earlier in the film. That makes the ending, when we actually see the movie being made, especially creepy when you think about it.
A few more intricacies are embodied by the titular May December. Joe and Gracie present themselves throughout the film as a loving couple and we believe it despite their uncomfortable backstory. They're such upstanding citizens that people still come to their house for barbecues. We soon suspect - with good reason - that Gracie just treats Joe like one of her kids. Neither of them sees anything wrong with their relationship at least until the climax rolls around. That scene shows Melton's performance at its greatest as we realize that, despite the facade, he's just a kid in an adult body. It's more disturbing when Gracie blames him for starting the affair, which makes it clear she will never see anything wrong with her actions. Yikes.
Amongst their supporting cast, Curda, Yu & Chung are likable as the Atherton-Yoo kids. Honor's first scene is a joyous reunion between her and Mary at the airport, which is easily one of the most enjoyable scenes in the film. DW Moffett makes the most of his screentime as Gracie's first husband, Tom; his and Gracie's son Georgie (Corey Michael Smith) is a chill guy who soon reveals himself as a bit self-serving. Mr. Henderson (Charles Green), Gracie & Joe's former boss, is quite pitiable considering his place is about to close when we see him. There's some great production design for the creepy storeroom where the "lovers" were caught. That's where Elizabeth starts to immerse herself as Gracie; the creepiness is accentuated by Marcelo Zarvos's score (actually adapted from Michel Legrand's score from The Go-Between). Be careful as it gets surprisingly loud during the opening credits.
May December is a lot of things. It's a deconstruction of May December romances, a deconstruction of method acting and an interesting character piece. Do you know what I didn't find it to be? Funny. Yes, the Golden Globes actually put this in the Musical/Comedy category. A lot of its humor probably flew past me as I watched it. I found the trailer for the actual winner, Poor Things, and the next film on my docket, American Fiction, far funnier than this. This is a Netflix movie, but there might be a rare theatre somewhere that's playing it. Perhaps a good-sized crowd can find the humor that I couldn't find watching it by itself. Again, it's a fine film, but look elsewhere if you want a good time.
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