
Variety
Sarandon is great at being good in writer-director Lorene Scafaria's loving homage to her mother's uncommonly generous personality.
Full reviewComedy-drama starring Susan Sarandon as a doting mother and divorcée trying to start a new life. Co-stars Rose Byrne (Bad Neighbours) and Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash). From writer-director Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World).
"For Marnie Minervini (Sarandon), motherhood is not a familial duty. It's a vocation. A compulsive advice-giver, the recently widowed but ceaselessly cheerful Marnie cannot stop texting, calling, and showing up unannounced at the home of her daughter, Lori (Byrne). Desperate to gain some control over her life following a messy breakup, Lori attempts to draw boundaries, but that only serves to unleash Marnie's meddling upon the greater Los Angeles area. She starts to chauffeur the nice young Apple Store clerk to his college classes. She gives thousands of dollars to a not-especially-close friend of Lori's so she can have her dream wedding. But a chance encounter with a charismatic chicken-raising rent-a-cop (a surprisingly adorable Simmons) could spark a chance for Marnie to leave her characteristic supporting role behind and finally become the star of her own life." (Toronto International Film Festival)
LessSarandon is great at being good in writer-director Lorene Scafaria's loving homage to her mother's uncommonly generous personality.
Full reviewAgreeably (unusually) optimistic about human relationships, despite the melancholy edging its comedy.
Full reviewMight be a bit too simplistic at times and some of the comedic choices are annoyingly broad, but it's a breezy, amiable watch.
Full reviewNot enough can be said about the terrific Sarandon, whose Marnie is reportedly based on Scafaria's own widowed mother.
Full reviewScafaria has made a deeply personal, unquestionably sincere movie -- which, alas, isn't exactly the same as a very good one.
Full reviewThe Meddler is available to stream in New Zealand now on Netflix and Google Play and Apple TV.
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