Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 6-April-08
Spoiler Rating: Low

Unhook the Stars (1997)

The interesting thing about "Unhook the Stars" is that it causes you to become deeply interested in people who are unexceptional: neither good nor evil, neither alone nor in love, neither failures nor successes. In fact, the movie contains a remarkable lack of drama or eccentricity and boasts no defining moment or character. It does, however, neatly express the fragility of human connection, which is such a universal experience that the story cannot help but hit home.

The movie stars Gena Rowlands as a widow named Mildred who is left by herself in a big suburban house after her confused, post-adolescent daughter storms out. (In real life Rowlands is the mother of co-writer/director Nick Cassavetes, so the movie is a family affair.) The void in her life fills quickly when her trashy neighbor Monica (Marisa Tomei) asks her to babysit a little boy (Jake Lloyd of "Star Wars I" fame). Mildred agrees because she has nothing better to do and in no time becomes the boy's primary caregiver. This is perhaps inevitable, for whereas Mildred always appears clean, polite, and on top of things, Monica is a complete mess. Her husband has just moved out after smacking her around, so in addition to being disheveled, foul-mouthed, cigarette-addicted, and hard-drinking, she is a single mother who feels the world is against her.

Contrary to what one might expect, the main attachment that Mildred forms is with the son instead of the mother, although Monica does receive some looking-after. As Mildred speculates, children respond better than teens and adults to her focused attention and desire to share her know-it-all's wisdom. She and the tyke enjoy a perfect understanding as they walk in the park, make snacks in her kitchen, and set out to read the encyclopedia from A to Z. The 45 years that separate them do not prevent them from being best friends. This rejuvenates Mildred even as it alienates her own son, a preening yuppie who pretends to play by the good-guy rules but is really a selfish boor — and an example of the bad result that Mildred's attentions can produce.

These people send ripples through each other's lives without effecting any major salvation. This accounts for a persistent note of melancholy, yet "Unhook the Stars" (what does that mean?) has its humor as well. Especially funny is when Gérard Depardieu, as an enigmatic truck driver with eyes for Mildred, takes advantage of an excuse to grab her ass. Like all relationships in the picture, his courtship merely opens doors; moving over thresholds is something which each character must do on his or her own and which the movie addresses only peripherally. The point is that even the most integral connections may be fleeting, so we should open ourselves to the opportunities they provide while we have the chance.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.