Review: Here and Now

A reworking of Agnès Varda's 1962 classic, Cléo de 5 à 7, Here and Now begins with a dire diagnosis for its heroine, Vivienne Carala (Sarah Jessica Parker), who learns that she has an aggressive brain tumour and that, even with surgery, the best she can hope for is to have another 14 months left to live.

Shell-shocked, she stumbles out into the bustling Manhattan sidewalks where life goes on and people are oblivious to her own personal catastrophe. A famous jazz singer about to celebrate her 25th anniversary of playing at Birdland, she spends the next 24 hours trying to absorb the news before she has to the hospital the next morning to have more tests done. She distracts herself with work - there are rehearsals for her upcoming tour. Her manager Ben (Common) senses that something is amiss - whilst we viewers get hints that the two have a shared history that was more than professional - but knows better than to ask any deeper questions. She finds some comfort in the arms of her boy toy lover Jordan (Taylor Kinney), who also happens to be her drummer.

Regrets, Vivienne has certainly had a few, though not too few to mention. Her professional success has come at the high cost of personal sacrifice. She's more somewhat close acquaintance than mother to her teenage daughter Lucie (Gus Birney) who, along with her dad Nick (Simon Baker), can see that something is troubling Vivienne, who is having difficulty revealing her diagnosis. More oblivious to Vivienne's emotional turmoil are her self-absorbed mother Jeanne (Jacqueline Bisset), and Tessa (Renée Zellweger), an old friend that she happens to run into and whose life might have been her own had she chosen to be a wife and mother rather than concentrate on her career.

One wishes that there had been greater focus on the meeting between the two friends since it provides the film with some much needed traction and Zellweger is such a welcome presence. In fact, her appearance makes one wonder if Vivienne might have been a better fit for her or even Bisset for that matter. Parker, delightful and effervescent a personality as she is, has limited range as an actress and, given that Here and Now is more of a mood piece, her wispiness often exposes both her limitations and the film's somewhat unclear sense of self.

Here and Now

Directed by: Fabien Constant

Written by: Laura Eason

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Renée Zellweger, Taylor Kinney, Simon Baker, Jacqueline Bisset, Common, Gus Birney