I'll See You In My Dreams

I’ll See You In My Dreams is not your typical meet-cute romance. For one thing, instead of starring whatever generic, baby faced ingénue is on the cover of Maxim that month, it stars 72 year old Blythe Danner. Most of the rest of the cast is well over 60 as well and that alone makes it an unusual film. But also, it’s a strange film because it’s unusual combination of love story, meditation of aging, and awkward inter-generational buddy movie. I’ll See You In My Dreams is a hard film to categorize and so, it’s hard to know what to expect. If you go in hoping for a safe, senior citizen-empowerment tale or a raunchy, “don’t old people do the wackiest things” comedy, you’ll be disappointed on both counts. 

 

Danner plays Carol, a woman who has been widowed for the last twenty years, placidly living a very comfortable life in southern California. She plays bridge and golf and has lunch with her friends. She goes for walks in the balmy weather and watches TV with Hazel, her trusty but aging dog. At the outset of the film, Carol has to put Hazel down, and we see her struggling to know how to grieve. She drinks a lot of wine and finds that there’s little pleasure to be had in her life.

Then, almost simultaneously, two new relationships begin for her. First, she unexpectedly befriends Lloyd, the 30 something guy who cleans her pool played by Martin Starr They drink and commiserate together, first just when he comes to work and later when they go out to karaoke together. Lloyd has moved home to take care of his mother but is lost and directionless. Their friendship is as platonic as it is unlikely. They don’t form a mother/son bond nor are they lovers. They simply get along because both are uncertain of what they’re supposed to be doing with their lives. While their relationship is innocent, it’s not without its tension. Lloyd is a gentleman at all times, but Carol is also a stone cold fox, so it makes for some interesting moments of unexpected awkwardness.

The other relationship that begins for Carol is with Bill, played by Sam Elliot. Bill is also a retiree but one who, rather than spend his later years quietly, has decided to spend all the money he has and enjoy his life. After seeing each other around town several times, he pulls up to Carol in his expensive sports car and simply says, “I want to take you to lunch. What’s your name?” Of course, he’s Sam Elliot so that actually works instead of sending her scurrying for the nearest police officer. They begin to date and, after twenty years, Carol rediscovers what romance feels like. While Danner’s chemistry with Martin Starr as Lloyd is charged and quirky, her work with Elliot is warm, charming, and sexy. Watching two actors as experienced and charismatic as that work together is a real pleasure.

There are some aspects of I’ll See You In My Dreams that seem a little artificial. There are times when the dialogue by writer/director Brett Haley feels very much like dialogue. It has a very writerly, scripted feel to it and made me wonder if the film was originally a stage play. It wasn’t, but it definitely has a careful, self-aware tone to it. Carol’s group of girlfriends and their antics also have a crafted, “Hey, let’s be wacky” vibe too.

I'll See You In My Dreams is unusual and refreshing, and Blythe Danner in her first leading film role in a fifty year career is worth the price of admission alone. The film can't be easily categorized, and in our age o f niche marketing, it's a pleasure to see a film that is something unexpected.  

This review  originally appears on Q90.1. Go to deltabroadcasting.org for more information.