How do you picture yourself saying “I’ll be right there”? Maybe it’s super casual because, well, most things can wait. Or perhaps it’s the polar opposite, and you’re saying it with utter turmoil because the person to whom you’re speaking is under the impression that, no, it cannot wait. The latter is typically the case for aging mom and soon-to-be grandma Wanda, played to reliable perfection by Emmy winner Edie Falco (Avatar: The Way of Water).
Directed by Brendan Walsh (reteaming with Falco after a handful of Nurse Jackie episodes they did together) and written by Jim Beggarly, I’ll Be Right There benefits from the same sort of razor-sharp wit Falco brought to her Sopranos role of Carmela, plus a handful of other elements such as the stellar cast alongside Falco for her wryly funny new indie feature.
A Fish (Out of Water) Named Wanda
There’s a deadpan-hilarious but quietly unnerving line in the classic holiday flick A Christmas Story (1983), where narrator Ralphie claims, as we watch the overworked matriarch serve dinner: “My mother had not had a hot meal for herself in 15 years.” One could argue similar statistics can be attributed to super-mom Wanda in I’ll Be Right There. Her grown-up kids Sarah (Mrs. America star Kayli Carter) and Mark (Ozark star Charlie Tahan) live close by, which allows Wanda to answer their beckoning calls at virtually any time of day. The kicker? For one, Charlie is a recovering drug-addict wildcard who may just wake up one day with that sudden urge to join the Army; and the neurotic Sarah, meanwhile, is increasingly pregnant and keeping her frenetic fiancé Eugene (Painkiller star Jack Mulhern) on edge 24/7.
And why stop the fun there? Sarah wants an expensive wedding before she welcomes her baby, a daunting event that Wanda’s eye-roll of ex-husband, Henry (Bradley Whitford, doing peak Whitford), is now claiming he doesn’t have the dough to co-fund with her. What a guy. Speaking of “guys,” Wanda has a little fling with a newfound love interest, in the more platonic form of bar owner Marshall (Michael Rapaport, doing vintage Rapaport), who also happens to employ the bookkeeping Wanda.
Since platonic doesn’t exactly satisfy a certain craving, as they say, that’s where kinky sexual partner Sophie (Sepideh Moafi) enters the picture. Yes, Wanda is at that stage where she’s a bit more spontaneous and experimental, and that includes perhaps even swinging both ways when it comes to the bedroom. I’ll Be Right There, as it were, certainly benefits from keeping us on our toes on the storyline front with sexy little plot developments like these.
‘What Is It You Want, Wanda?’
Opposite the beautiful but middle-aged Wanda, friend-with-benefits Sophie is younger and arguably full of more energy than the overworked grandma-to-be, but that doesn’t stop Sophie from showering Wanda with compliments about her tricks on the intimacy front. Go, Wanda! The lopsided age dynamic does, however, prevent Sophie from bringing Wanda into her social circles and all that, which is rightfully a major turn-off for Wanda.
Then, lo and behold, there happens to be a dashing neighbor (Michael Beach) who, through a twist of fate, makes his presence known to her. Albert is the same age as Wanda and has just re-entered her troubled life decades later — as it turns out, the two of them once attended high school together. “This is not a date” is Wanda’s comedic go-to line whenever he turns on the charm and innocently proposes they meet up for a casual dinner.
But despite how this all reads on paper, Wanda seems to manage the scattered lover’s quarrels okay, especially in the face of more grave matters, aka life-threatening disease. It’s not Wanda, however, but her own mom Grace (the reliable scene-stealer Jeannie Berlin) who is diagnosed with leukemia — but the fact that all these issues feel so close to and directly affecting Wanda’s well-being is telling enough that this family woman is utterly selfless 24 hours a day, 8 days a week (yes, she seems to be working overtime more often than not).
I’ll Be Right There may feel like a messy family tale we’ve seen before, but the existential crisis Wanda endures is utterly relatable, even if you’re not a perpetually stressed single mom of two adults (who act a bit like children). Added to that, there are some hard-hitting zingers dished by Wanda’s increasingly agitated lovers, such as the neglected Marshall — who finally yells out at her at one point, “It’d be better if I were one of your kids.” In other words, they’re the ones who get all the love from Wanda, even if they (allegedly) take her motherly selflessness for granted. Thank goodness it’s Brooklyn native Falco who’s there to breathe a fiery, contemplative life into Wanda to balance out the drama and stand her ground, ultimately navigating what it is she truly wants in this life.
From Brainstorm Media, I’ll Be Right There will be released in theaters on Friday, September 6th.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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