By George & Josh Bate
Scarlett Johansson has long since established herself as one of the most in demand performers in Hollywood. Excelling in large-scale blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame as well as more intimate dramas like Marriage Story, Johansson so often delivers emotional weight in roles, regardless of the surrounding film. Lost in Translation, Under the Skin, and Jojo Rabbit all exist as career highlights for her on-screen, but, for the first time, Eleanor the Great allows Johansson to step behind the camera, resulting in a moving yet flawed odyssey.
Eleanor the Great follows Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb), a 94-year-old Jewish woman undergoing a deep grieving process following the death of her longtime friend Bessie (Rita Zohar). Eleanor moves to Staten Island as a result, moving in with her recently divorced daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and grandson Max (Will Price). Despite the move, Eleanor remains lonely and isolated. Seeking connection, Squibb’s character mistakenly finds herself at a gathering meant for Holocaust survivors and begins to share her deceased friend’s story as her own. Connection then comes in the form of a friendship with a 19-year-old student named Nina (Erin Kellyman), who is also undergoing grief of her own. Rounding out the cast is Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger, Nina’s father, another figure of the cast dealing with emotional baggage.
At the center of Eleanor the Great is June Squibb, the strongest pillar of the film who delivers another memorable performance. Her character is vibrant and energetic despite her old age, and Eleanor feels like a very real, deeply flawed, yet sympathetic lead character. Squibb, who exceled in last year’s Thelma, plays Eleanor as something of an enigma, simultaneously sharp-tongued, irritable, awkward, and yet also vulnerable, lonely, and misunderstood. Squibb communicates the latter to the audience via subtle facial expressions, change of voice, and small gestures, all of which end up carrying significant emotional weight. When more tender moments do come (unfortunately, they aren’t as often as they could or should be), they are beautifully lit and given space by Johansson’s direction. There are lingering close ups that allow the viewer to feel closer to the characters and give Squibb the opportunity to show Eleanor’s social and emotional awkwardness. It’s the kind of performance that makes the film worth watching, even when the story becomes bogged down by moral ambiguities and confused messaging.
At the heart of these issues is the core premise of the film. A woman pretending to be something she’s not in order to find connection sets up an interesting moral dilemma in theory, but given the sensitivity of the topics at hand, it’s still capable of upsetting some as a result. Eleanor’s deception isn’t just lying for the sake of it, and is instead a reflection of her complex feelings of grief, shame and fear of being lost to history. That being said, to tell a lie like this is still incredibly significant, and the film doesn’t dive deep enough into the discomfort this can bring. It’s a serious premise, but one that isn’t always tackled with the necessary tact or grace.
Structure and pacing similarly bog down the film. Some of the best moments in the runtime are the quieter character moments, often between Eleanor and Nina, which don’t always have enough time to breathe. There’s plenty of dramatic developments too, specifically with Nina and Roger, yet these moments don’t go as deep as they could. The audience is never fully able to get inside the head of Nina or Roger, and instead, their conflict wraps up too neatly for it to be sufficiently believable or resonant.
Despite these issues, Eleanor the Great is still a commendable first effort from the actress turned filmmaker. One can see Johansson’s eye for highlighting the performances of her lead actors, along with an attention to detail and an ability to evoke empathy even for characters who don’t always act in respectable ways. The depth to the story isn’t always there, and certain themes (like grief and identity) aren’t explored in the way they should be, but the film ultimately does just enough to stick with you after it’s finished.
VERDICT: 7/10
Eleanor the Great is a tender film made with good intentions anchored by another incredible turn from June Squibb. Bogged down by messy moral ambiguity and never quite reaching the emotional heights it is going for, the film remains engaging throughout and has some genuinely moving moments. Johansson’s directorial debut may not be a resounding success, but it nevertheless suggests that, with a tighter screenplay behind her, greatness awaits in her filmmaking career.