Other People (2016)
November 26, 2016 9:50 AM - Subscribe
A struggling comedy writer, fresh off a breakup and in the midst of the worst year of his life, returns to Sacramento to care for his dying mother.
Just watched this last night. Didn’t read the description so based on the actors I thought it would be a comedy. Really good though. Still think Todd, I mean Jesse Plemons, is really good, but I don’t think he was the right actor for the role. Like it needed someone with a different resting face. Any expression he has to make is done very well, but anything not an expression was like uncanny valley or something. Maybe I’m just seeing weird Todd too much.
posted by LizBoBiz at 8:25 AM on March 29, 2020
posted by LizBoBiz at 8:25 AM on March 29, 2020
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The role of the mother, played by Molly Shannon, was originally going to be played by Sissy Spacek. The son is played by Jesse Plemons, whom I was not familiar with because I haven't watched Breaking Bad or the second season of Fargo. You'll also notice a number of familiar comedy faces, such as Zach Woods of Silicon Valley and The Office as the boyfriend of Plemons' character.
The film is episodic, with a brief chapter per month over the last year of the mother's life as she succumbs to cancer.
The depiction of familial homophobia was subtle and rang true. The father keeps his distance from the gay son, yet the other members of the family don't call him out on it. It's kind of like having a missing stair in the family.
There are a couple of funny scene-stealing scenes with child actor J.J. Totah of Glee as the gay younger brother of a friend of Plemons.
It seems that the IMDB user rating, a still-respectable 6.7 as of this writing, is somewhat depressed by some homophobic reviewers, one of whom, due to a brief, non-explicit sex scene, says "I'm so glad that I did not suggest this film for the family, as there is no comedy; only soft gay porn. "
posted by larrybob at 11:12 AM on May 1, 2017