Review: A Talented Ensemble Gives Wings to 'Blackbird'

Matriarch Lily (Susan Sarandon), nearing the end of a long battle with ALS, has decided to die before things worsen. She and her loving husband, Paul (Sam Neill), have planned a goodbye weekend culminating in a celebratory Christmas dinner. The guests include the couple's two estranged daughters, Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska), as well as Jennifer's bumbling husband (Rainn Wilson), Anna's sometime lover (Bex Taylor-Klaus), teen grandson Jonathan (Anson Boon), and adoring best friend Liz (Lindsay Duncan).

This is the basic set up of Roger Michell's stirring film "Blackbird," a remake of the Danish drama "Silent Heart," written by Christian Torpe, who is also responsible for scripting the Americanized version.

There is no new ground broken here, and most of the characters are recognizable from other familial-gathering movies (holidays, weddings, funerals – pick a flick – I was reminded of Randal Kleiser's "It's My Party"), so the joys to be found (and there are many) are in the compelling interaction of the characters, and in watching so many wonderful actors do what they do best. In addition, Michell is a gifted director who finds fascinating ways of filming the most mundane of moments and scenes.

Lily's choice to die is a given, even though it's obvious that certain loved ones have misgivings. She is resolved, despite the fact that what she's doing is illegal in California (the state where the film takes place). There is some debate, but the tensions and drama emerge from different, and more repressed, places, resulting in a melodrama-free first half but an Act Two that cannot avoid it (and rightfully, since the film is partly about death and loss).

Sarandon anchors the proceedings perfectly. Her character's determination is obvious, but there are glimpses of anger and frustration in being dealt a bum hand at a time where she should be thriving.

Duncan is ever-awesome as her lifelong BFF, and Neill does his best with an underwritten part. Wasikowska manages to squeeze some nuance from a stereotypical fuckup character.

Winslet has the trickiest role, playing the judgmental prig of an older sister – a nerd who seems to want to redefine herself, but is too stuck in her own head. The gifted thesp maneuvers the character's forced flip flops with an admirable verve.

The idea that such a calm, if caustic, free spirit like Lily has two overly dramatic daughters might seem strange, but there are many clues pointing to the fact that Lily was once quite controlling.

Oddly, it is newcomer Boon who is the heart of the film (and the future of the family), refreshingly playing a teen who isn't surly, detached, or married to his gadgets; he is actually present, listening, learning, and loving.

The film's screenplay is a bit too calculated, with reveals occurring at certain particular moments and with the ending always being inevitable (read: Contrived). But one can forgive these, as well as the final (throwaway) curve ball, because the emotional intensity of the piece rings true, thanks to the talented ensemble.

In a telling moment, Lily causes a glass (filled with wine) to shatter when she cannot grasp it. Michell films this so we do not see it happen; three characters obstruct our view. We hear the crash, then the camera pans up to the shattered glass and Lily in the far distance. Close up of the glass pieces. We then see a medium shot of Lily, who jokes about it. Then, as everyone around her make excuses for the accident, the camera stays on Lily. She's obviously humiliated, devastated but holding back as much as she can, and when Jennifer says, "I never liked those glasses," Lily is allowed her catharsis, stating, "I hated those glasses." Her spirit is near broken by the limitations now placed on her body, but she'll get through one more indignity. It's moments like this that provide an unexpected power and grace, and make "Blackbird" better than the sum of its sometimes limited parts.