04 Dec Black Bear Review

Black Bear

dir. by Lawrence Michael Levine starring Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, and Sarah Gadon

Halfway into this movie I knew I’d have no idea what I wanted to say about this, how to articulate my feelings, or what the final product would be, but here we go:

The synopsis for this movie is as such: At a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, a couple entertains an out-of-town guest looking for inspiration in her filmmaking. The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously convoluted their lives will soon become in the filmmaker’s pursuit of a work of art, which blurs the boundaries between autobiography and invention. That is all present in the film, but not in the ways you imagine. Black Bear keeps your off your toes, off your guard, confused and clueless throughout good chunks of it. While it’s definitely doing that by design, I don’t know if it worked to an effective degree for me. Because of a very hard shift the movie takes in the middle of the story that leaves a plot point dangling never to be returned to, I was incredibly baffled as to what was happened for a bit. I don’t mind admitting to being confused about something and I don’t want to give this movie a negative mark because I couldn’t keep up with the storytelling, but it took me a good while to reengage with the movie after that shift happens and we settle in for the back half of the film. The story that we shift to is where the problem lies for me. So many times in the beginning of the movie I felt that secondhand embarrassment as we see these characters attempt to interact with each other: stampeding over each other’s sentences, the awkward pauses in conversation, the unspoken but incredibly obvious meanings, the backhanded compliments, all of that is delicious and a testament to a strong script. In the second half of the movie that’s all gone. Things are spelled out, they’re incredibly overt, things are laid bare for the audience in a way that makes it seem like no one keeps secrets. A character with explosive diarrhea tells multiple people multiple times the tilapia they had for lunch is giving her diarrhea. The subtle art of wordplay and verbal fencing in part 1 is completely demolished in part 2. I the fact that we’re supposed to be concerned for Aubrey Plaza’s well being in the second part amidst a stressful film shoot for me took back seat to the film shoot itself is telling. I was stressed out about that shoot, they couldn’t get their production together and it’s both hilarious and horrible to see.

Acting wise? This is Aubrey Plaza at her best. I feel like every little odd character she’s played throughout her career (which be honest is every character she’s ever played) has been leading up to this role. She’s great at the macabre, she revels in people’s unease, and this is right up her alley. She uses these gifts to her advantage flawlessly in the first part and then when she’s allowed to unleash in the second half, she lays it all bare and goes for broke, almost too far. She fits this like they said “let’s make a movie about Aubrey Plaza and stick her in the most Aubrey Plaza-like scenarios we can think of” and the result is Black Bear. Christopher Abbot and Sarah Gadon do well in their roles, I think Gadon does her best work in the first half as a woman infected with jealousy and misery and I think Abbot really shines in the second half as a frayed nerve director because he had me stressed out the whole time.

Lawrence Michael Levine is incredibly competent with the directing of this movie. The initial awkwardness that gives way to tension that gives way to dread in the beginning of the movie is timed and paced wonderfully, a testament to the editing as well. The camera is placed in invasive ways, especially in part 2 where no one, especially not Aubrey Plaza seems to be afforded a moment’s peace or rest, the viewer is always in someone’s personal space. It’s uncomfortable and it’s meant to be and Levine does an incredible job with that.

In the end Black Bear is a story of jealousy, of manipulation, of secrets, of lies, of desire, and how all of that can utterly destroy and tear down a person or a relationship. That’s nothing new; anyone who’s been around for more than two decades on this planet can tell you that. But Levine trying to breathe life into these old themes with this radical presentation didn’t fully do it for me as a whole. Aubrey Plaza is the sole focal point of this entire movie, a vehicle for her to put her gifts fully on display and show you what she’s been hiding in the bag. If you’re even marginally interested in her as an actress, this is the movie you’re going to want to see. 

Review by Darryl Mansel