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[scottishsiren]

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[theenthusiasticcinephile]

Hello I Must Be Going

1 hour 35 minutes

Rated R (Language and Sexual Content)

Directed by Todd Louiso

Starring Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott, John Rubinstein, Dan Futterman, and Julie White

3 out of 4 stars

IN THEATERS NOW.

Amy (Melanie Lynskey) is in her 30s and living at home with her parents (Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein) in Connecticut. She's just gotten divorced and is jobless. She's got no kids and believes there's no purpose in her life. She majored in photography in college and now is starting to realize that there's nothing to do with that. One day her dad, Stan, says that he's trying to get friendlier with some work people of his so he can close a deal with them. The deal will allow him to retire so that he and his wife, Ruth, can go on an adventure exploring the world. He invites them over for dinner. Here we're introduced to Gwen (Julie White, Shia LaBeouf's hilarious mom from the Transformers movies), a therapist and the wife of one of Stan's workers, and her 19 year old son, Jeremy (Christoper Abbot from HBO's Girls). Jeremy looks miserable and barely looks up from the table. He's an actor but hates acting. His mother thinks he's gay. He sees Amy look just as miserable and instantly feels a love for her. Amy leaves the table and goes into another room. Jeremy comes in and kisses her. Amy's surprised, but then kisses him back.

So I think you know what happens next. Amy and Jeremy start seeing each other behind their parents' backs. Amy doesn't know what she's doing. She obviously enjoys the sex because it makes her forget about the last few months she's had. Yet she's also having a really bad existential crisis. What is there to do with her life? She obviously can't carry on with a 19 year old forever, but could a fling like this awaken her eyes to a planned future? Hello I Must Be Going's story, written by Sarah Koskoff, feels a little too simple, but there's something about it that sticks with you. I saw the ending coming but it feels different in a way; it's quirky and sweet. It's that type of movie about the wake up call each of us has to the world. In this case, it's Amy's affair with a younger man. People might not understand why Jeremy is so attracted to Amy because though Amy is pretty she's not a supermodel. Well, Jeremy isn't a supermodel either (which is why he fits in so well on Girls) so right away you can see why he's attracted to her.

The movie is also funny and oftentimes tragic. The real charm of the movie comes from Lynskey's performance. The New Zealand actress first starred as the lead in Peter Jackson's cult classic Heavenly Creatures, alongside Kate Winslet (in her first movie role). That movie and this are the only ones where she plays the lead. She's always cast as the adjunct characters in movies like Up in the Air, Ever After, and the show Two and a Half Men. Why is she never cast as the lead anymore? I have no idea. Hollywood is just really blind to her naturally incredible acting. Let's pray to God that her performance awakens Hollywood's eyes more. I really liked Abbott here as well because he's so perfect at acting like a naive youth falling for a woman he knows he can't have. Danner may not look like Amy's mother but she does a great job of acting like it.

Hello I Must Be Going certainly got me scared about the possibility of having a life like Amy in the future. I'm only 21 and am already freaking out about what my future life will be like. Good God I hope this doesn't happen to me when I'm in my 30s. The story here isn't the most inventive, but Lynskey is reason alone to see the movie.