Review: Interiors

It’s about three adult sisters (Mary Beth Hurt, Diane Keaton, and Kristin Griffith), and their mentally unstable interior decorator mother (Geraldine Page), who hasn’t come to terms with the end of her marriage. Part of the reason for this is because their non-confrontational rich lawyer father (E.G. Marshall) has been trying to soften the blow, but now that he has moved on to the somewhat crass Maureen Stapleton (nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work here), they need to find a way to let Page know about the impending wedding without sending her towards  another breakdown. Easier said than done. Meanwhile, the three sisters clearly don’t approve of Stapleton. Uptight Hurt is in a relationship with activist filmmaker Waterston, and resents that she’s the only one who tries to keep it real with Page. Keaton (who doesn’t wear a pants suit and tie for a very welcome change) is married to a failed and moody writer (a well-cast, but glum Richard Jordan). Kristin Griffith, meanwhile, is an actress whose career happily keeps her frequently away from her family.

 

This 1978 Woody Allen (“Annie Hall”, “Deconstructing Harry”, “Manhattan”) film was apparently his first ‘serious’ film, and also his attempt at an Ingmar Bergman film. Me not being a Bergman aficionado, all I care about is whether it’s a good film or not. Sadly, for me it’s pretty tedious and aloof, and features several actors I’m not terribly fond of (including Sam Waterston and Richard Jordan). It does have a great title, though. I’ll give it that. Very clever.

 

Diane Keaton (who I’ve never much liked) is terrific, Maureen Stapleton and E.G. Marshall (who I really do like) are rock-solid, but this is yet another film where I find myself perfectly understanding everything except the point of it all. It’s ordinary, mundane stuff with an air of pretentiousness and not very warm or inviting characters (The central family is pretty affluent and pretentiously arty). It’s interesting in theory just how different this is from other Woody Allen films of the 70s and 80s, but that doesn’t in and of itself make it an interesting film to watch. While Geraldine Fitzgerald (who, like Stapleton was nominated for an Oscar, but for Best Actress) is OK, it also doesn’t help that her character is uncomfortably pathetic. I wanted to avert my eyes to her every scene after a while, and I don’t think that was anyone’s intention here. The discomfort, sure, but not the compulsion to look away. No filmmaker would want that from his or her audience. A debuting Mary Beth Hurt, meanwhile is so shrill and annoying that I wanted to block my ears. So when the two were on screen together, well you figure it out.

 

With no characters to relate or warm to and an overall snooty vibe, this Woody Allen drama didn’t do much for me. It’s probably someone’s favourite Woody film, but I was never drawn in. It feels much ado about nothing, and that finale is pretty well on the nose, too. I think critics at the time were so shocked and impressed that Woody could do drama, that this very idea alone felt praiseworthy. Seeing the film for the first time in late 2016, I’ve obviously seen Woody do drama a few times, and I’m considerably less impressed by this one. Diane Keaton gives one of her best performances, however.

 

Rating: C