Criticism | Good House: Sigourney Weaver breaks fourth wall in delightful addiction comedy-drama

Watched movie during the 2021 Toronto Film Festival

Humor as a healing mechanism turns painful situations into an audience’s delight, blurring the line that separates seriousness from confrontation with the lightness of unpretentious humor. And Sigourney Weaver appropriates exactly that to create his own take on the coming-of-age subgenre, making Good House a coming-of-age story.

Subverting this most common subgenre in films featuring young adult characters, co-director-co-director duo Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky weave their two fingers of prose from the perspective of a 70’s woman. years still struggling to find herself a mother. , a professional and a woman. A desperate alcoholic, she is a real estate agent in a beautiful seaside region, surrounded by “impeccable” families and full of well-kept secrets. And as someone trying to get back on their feet, unconvinced that sobriety is the only option, she’s a derailed train that – by the way – drives family catastrophes and disasters into her own confusion.

With a somewhat common premise, Good House would have to be that boring, uncreative indie that creeps into its complex thinking because it wants to be conceptual or suffer too much. But Forbes and Wolodarsky transform the turbulent and turbulent mind of this handsome and confused protagonist into an interactive and fun banquet, mixing several genres to the point of offering a sort of open bar to the audience. Harnessing Weaver’s versatility, the comedy-drama slips out of its comfort zone with a plot that has its countless lessons, but still offers them washed down with a careful dose of sour humor, with lots of lemon and a touch of salt.

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And Sigourney Weaver has fun and turns Hildy Good into a walking chaos, trying to deal with her trauma and fragility by breaking through the fourth wall, always seeking public approval – as she also tries to justify herself at all times, as a alcoholic in denial. scene that fights AA meetings. Comfortable with the character and with her own body, the veteran takes the stage, delivering a performance that is much more mature and different from her previous works. By her side, Brazilian Morena Baccarin exudes her beauty, even if she cannot deliver more than what we have seen in the past.

Fun, with a slight reflective touch, the dramamedia has its own sensibility, is punctual in its message, and manages to make its own happy ending amid the chaos it offers from start to finish of the plot. With a simple and unimportant staging, Good House focuses on its storyline, full of truisms, but with a slightly original appearance. And in the hands of Weaver, what could be any movie and perhaps forgettable, becomes a beautiful showcase to show off the greatness of these actresses, who over the years get better and better – like a fine wine.

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