Long Day’s Journey Into Love … Eventually
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
Join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters even though I’ll have to sacrifice seeing such wonders as Cocaine Bear (Elizabeth, Banks). Only one review this week, though, due to a combination of little of interest to me from among available options plus viewing time compromised by the near-end of regular basketball season/beginning of baseball season with my local Golden State Warriors and Oakland Athletics finally getting well-needed-wins on Tuesday night of this week (although those A’s were sadly back to normal Wednesday afternoon).
Rye Lane (Raine Allen-Miller) rated R 82 min.
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
What Happens: In Rye Lane we’re in the South London neighborhoods of Peckham and Brixton (something I’d never had known without some press notes guidance; the movie’s shot there also, providing an authentic feel) where it all begins with an overhead traveling shot across the activities in some public toilets—although there’s no one actually eliminating anything—finally settling on Dom (David Jonsson) who’s having a crying fit, noticed by Yas (Vivian Oparah) from another stall (this is a unisex restroom in an art gallery) who checks to see if he’s OK, then she goes back out into the gallery’s photo show, celebrating the large or multiple images of the human mouth, the work of self-congratulatory-Nathan (Simon Manyonda). Dom wanders into the show also, knows Nathan, is recognized by Yas due to his shoes she saw under his stall door. They talk a bit, continue the conversation outside as they stroll through the Rye Lane Market, Dom telling her his grief is over the breakup he had 3 months ago after 6 years with Gia (Karene Peter) who’s now not only with Dom’s former-best-friend-Eric (Benjamin Sarpong-Broni)—Dom learned Gia was having an affair with Eric when Dom accidently received the phone shot of Eric’s penis intended for GIa—but wants Dom to meet them at a pub to “clear the air.” Begrudgingly, he goes to the assigned location, Yas moves on, then suddenly comes back, acts as if she’s now involved with Dom, makes sarcastic remarks about Eric (seemingly too dense to be offended), then unloads on Gia before walking out with Dom who’s dumbfounded by her spontaneous actions on his behalf yet delighted as well. Yas explains she too is now in ex-status as she gave her guy the heave-ho a bit ago; as they meander on, chatting, we find Dom wants to be an accountant, Yas wants to be a fashion designer for movies.
(Not much to choose from in terms of supportive images for this movie.)
As the day progresses they share burritos from a taco truck (Colin Firth has a cameo as a cook), she gets a call for a fashion job interview that she turns down seemingly to keep spending time with Dom until she later admits she’s scared of being rejected again, they end up in a karaoke bar (where shy Dom originally takes up the challenge to sing, then is finally joined by Yas which boosts audience support considerably), ultimately they get a key for Jules’ (Malcolm Atobrah)—Yas’ ex—home so they can break in. (But first they go to a neighbor’s afternoon patio party where Dom overhears Yas tell someone she’s just spending time with Dom because she feels sorry for him. [This sets up a problem for both Dom and us: Is Yas just trying to sort of save face with Jules’ neighbors so she downplays her attraction to Dom or is she not truly his trustworthy helper as we saw in the confrontation with Gia and Eric? There’s no clear answer, yet Dom’s about to get more bad news helping make this film less predictable as it evolves.]) In Jules’ place they retrieve a favorite phonographic record of hers, but before they can exit Jules comes in with new ladyfriend Tabby (Alice Hewkin). ⇒As things turn out, Jules is a good friend of Nathan’s (so all of the plot ultimately starts tying together) but exposes Yas’ lie, clarifying he broke it off with her. As Yas and Dom finally leave (with the record album), Dom’s very upset she lied to him about the termination of her time with Jules, storms off, refuses to take phone calls from her. Yet, a few months later as he’s standing on a bridge over the Thames he sees her on a tourist boat cruising down the river; they mutually wave, he runs to the boat’s next stop, she gets off, they kiss as all seems to be forgiven.⇐
So What? I can’t say why this movie rates an R (maybe it was some language use that breezes right by me because I rarely react to such unless it’s a constant barrage); I thought it might be in that opening scene where the camera glides over public toilets and the activities therein might be offensive to some, but I’ve looked at that shot in the trailer several times, can find nothing out of the ordinary for a public restroom (I've never understood why such facilities are often called “bathrooms,” as there’s nowhere in there to take a bath [maybe if you’re a hobbit or a leprechaun short enough to stand up in a urinal you take the semblance of a shower, but that seems like quite a stretch]), so just know that, in my far-from-sanctimonious-opinion, I can recall nothing in this narrative that would be inappropriate for children or teens. (Including that possible language use, as kids today likely speak actively in obscenities at a much greater pace than anything you’ll hear here—OK, maybe the R’s all about that mistaken delivery of Eric’s penis photo, but if it was actually on our screen it wasn’t long enough [in any sense of the term] to corrupt anybody unless they were in a Florida elementary school studying Italian Renaissance art [now that I’ve noted this situation I assume I’m not welcome in Florida either—big loss ... or not👎; although I have seen the David statue, “in the flesh” so to speak; it’s magnificent, should definitely be included in studies of artwork of this time, even for snickering 6th-graders]). 👈Yes, a long, unnecessary aside, but I’m trying to get fully into the spirit of this marvelous movie which rambles around in many various ways, sometimes catching us off-guard.
One of the best things I can say about this quirky presentation (lots of near-fisheye-wide shots, some quickly-seen odd settings along with many unexpected encounters) is that there’s been no need for me to note the director and stars are Black (I know, you can tell that reality from the photos anyway, but that's not the point) because their ancestry has nothing to do with the nature of the evolving romance, attractions and grievances, ultimate resolution; this is just a story about a couple of interesting, complicated people who find resonance with each other, sharing more in a single day of meeting each other than many of us do over the first few weeks of an aspiring-connection. True, the ending seems a bit arbitrary, but time supposedly can heal all wounds so maybe they’ve just been separated long enough to want a reconnection or maybe some plot sacrifices have to be made when you’re working in a basically-recognizable, rom-com genre structure, especially when up against the constraint of a meager (due to budget?) running-time. Whatever rationale that you might ascribe to Rye Lane’s closure, it’s just a delightful experience to watch, which I’ll recommend you do.
Bottom Line Final Comments: If you take my advice on watching this movie, though, you’ll have to stream it on Hulu; if you’re not already a subscriber you can get the basic service for $7.99 a month, not a bad price to see just this one option yet there's also access to whatever else they’ve got if you’re in and out for only the 1 month (your choice; Two Guys in the Dark get no kickback). The CCAL certainly encourages such a possibility with the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at an astounding 98% (not a cheap applaud either as that’s based on 104 reactions when I went to “press”), while the folks at Metacritic have given it an 82% average score (far and away their best response to any 2023 releases both they and I have reviewed). Maybe I’m attracted to Rye Lane because it reminds me of how I met my wife, Nina (who also likes this movie a lot), as we came across each other also by chance looking into scalper tickets for the Paul Simon Graceland concert in Berkeley, CA way back in 1987; not only did we get into the concert (even paying regular price, through the quirk of resold-unclaimed-paid-for-tickets), we then wandered around Berkeley for the rest of the night talking, having beers and pizza, leading to our first date the following weekend. Nothing we did on our first chance meeting was anything like the antics we see of Yas and Dom (nor had I ever met someone in that manner who’d then become a romantic partner), but we connected for good much sooner than they did, leading to marriage in 1990. Whether the loving couple in this movie will make it as far as we have or not we’ll never know (unless, like Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise [1995], Before Sunset [2004], Before Midnight [2013], we get to revisit them in later years), but even just for now in world-wide-cultures where divisions/anger/mistrust are fast becoming the catalysts for tearing societies apart it’s lovely just to see a couple of strangers find quickly-growing-value in each other, setting the foundation for something that could become a long, satisfying union.
As we get further into spring I’m sure something of potential-import will lure me to a moviehouse, such as Air (Ben Afflick) about creating Michael Jordan’s Nike shoes; however, until then I’ll just be satisfied to miss the latest chart-topper, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley), opening in 3,855 domestic (U.S.-Canada) theaters with a hefty $37.2 million gross (worldwide $73 million),* although now that Creed III (Michael B. Jordan) is available for streaming along with continuing in theaters I may put aside my boredom with boxing stories and explore it for next week ($19.99 rental, though). In the meantime, I’ll leave you with my usual wrap-up of a Musical Metaphor, this time the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight” (1976 album the same name as the band) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1UXCdyNo0, not because, as the song implies, a daytime encounter under the sheets is just as good as one in the nighttime (“I always thought a fish could not be caught who didn’t bite / But you got some bait awaiting and I think I might try nibbling / A little afternoon delight / Skyrockets in flight […] Be waiting for me, baby, when I come around / We can make a lot of loving ‘fore the sun goes down”)—an idea I wouldn’t argue with—as that level of connection doesn’t happen here for Yas and Dom, but they certainly start “nibbling” on possibilities with each other, so some afternoon (and night) in the future seems quite viable for them (as it was for me and Nina, although we didn’t have to wait months; I’ll discreetly leave it at that). Innuendoes aside, Rye Lane’s a very enjoyable experience with lots of unexpected elements that should easily keep you entertained (as well as encourage an amorous mood [maybe if you don’t have a partner right now you can meet one at some public gathering like an art show or a concert]), so look into it if that would be a welcome enhancement of your life today.
*Interestingly enough, #3 at the domestic box-office last weekend (after #2 John Wick: Chapter 4 [Chad Stahelski]) was another new release called His Only Son (David Helling), about the Old Testament/Torah story of Abraham commanded by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to the Lord.** By comparison to Dungeons …, this one opened in only 1,920 domestic theaters, grossed a mere $5.5 million (plus a tiny bit more globally). I’m never clear why right at Easter time (coming this Sunday) we often get stories on various screens leading up to the important life of Moses (such as ABC TV’s recent annual rerun of The Ten Commandments [Cecil B. DeMille, 1956]) rather than something more directly about Jesus, such as King of Kings (Nicholas Ray, 1961) or The Greatest Story Ever Told (George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco; 1965)—saw the latter in high-school; not exactly what I’d call the greatest date-night-choice. Yes, I know Passover starts this Thursday but … Commandments was on a couple of weekends ago, so I still don’t get the industry's scheduling here.
**Another take on this Book of Genesis story (but not very Biblical in attitude or content) is provided in the first verse of Bob Dylan’s "Highway 61 Revisited" (1965 album, the same name as the song).
SHORT TAKES
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
Some options for your cinematic interests: (1) Regal Cinemas may be emerging from bankruptcy; (2) Is TV/film writer pay up or down?; & related: (3) Writers Guild sets strike authorization vote.
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