Review: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Tragedy affects people in different ways. It can bond the estranged or erode a love that had a seemingly solid foundation. Moving on may mean coming apart. People could lose themselves. Loss is at the heart of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them, a novelistic drama that sometimes succeeds in making a meal out of a morsel.
Eleanor and Connor (Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy) are awash in love at the film's start, running out of a restaurant to avoid paying the bill and collapsing in laughter in a park. "There's only one heart in this body," he tells Eleanor. "Have mercy on me." Next we see Eleanor, the radiance is drained from her face and she matter-of-factly jumps from a bridge. Though she survives, she retreats to her family's suburban home where she refuses to acknowledge the reason for her suicide attempt.
Connor resorts to stalking Eleanor, now revealed as his wife, as she attends an identity theory class taught by Professor Friedman (Viola Davis). He doesn't understand Eleanor's emotional distance, nor can he seem to comprehend his place in the world if he's not her husband. His attempts to be independent of his father (Ciarán Hinds), a successful restaurant owner, have gone pear-shaped; his small restaurant and bar is losing money, forcing Connor to move into his father's townhouse.
Though their parents do their best to help, they also serve as reminders that Eleanor and Connor are more like their parents than they care to admit. Her mother (Isabelle Huppert) tells her she never wanted to be a mother at such a young age but thought she could go back to the career she put aside; she encourages Eleanor to retreat to Paris, finish her dissertation, and think about her. Her father (William Hurt), on the other hand, advises, "The trick is not running into the hills even when it's the most rational thing to do."
Originally presented as two separate films subtitled Him and Her, each film presented the couple's separation and attempts at reconciliation from each person's point of view. This approach makes considerable sense given the literary bent of the screenplay by director Ned Benson; more often than not, the film feels like a particularly detailed rendering of a novel. While Him and Her may have afforded a deeper, more textured narrative, there's something about Them that strikes one as oddly drawn out considering the compacted narrative. It may be that all the plot points and character arcs are too clearly laid out; one has already reached the intended conclusion while the film lingers to get there.
Nevertheless, one has to recognise and applaud the film's ambitions even if interest flags. The supporting players are excellent and the leading duo are formidable. Both deliver fully rounded portrayals that rivet; their scenes together run the gamut from playful to devastating.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
Directed by: Ned Benson
Written by: Ned Benson
Starring: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Nina Arianda, Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Ciarán Hinds, Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt, Jess Weixler
