‘Tangles’ review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson and Bryan Cranston lead a sweet, sad, and slightly generic look at dementia

Dementia has been featured prominently in films several times this century, with different tones and tones. Michael Haneke’s pain Things He deals with the issue very calmly. Gaspar Noe whirlpool It heightens the tension to contrast the calm and emptiness left in the wake of death. Florian Zeller brilliantly portrays the closest confusion of an injured man in a horror film father. Now the topic is being addressed in an animated film. EntanglementThe film is about a daughter who temporarily puts romance and career on hold to care for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

Adapted from Sarah Levitt’s 2010 graphic memoir, Entanglement It tells the story of Levitt’s thriving life when she was a twenty-something in San Francisco—a promising job as an illustrator at a quirky, quirky weekly magazine and an exciting new love interest—that was suddenly interrupted by bad news from home. On a return visit to Maine, Sarah notices her mother, Midge, acting strange. She is moody, erratic, and unfocused. Sarah’s family assumes this is the beginning of menopause, but Sarah suspects something much worse may be to blame.

The film follows this dawning realization to the final diagnosis, then wanders through the following years, as Midge slowly deteriorates and Sarah is torn between her obligations at home and the independent adulthood she is just beginning to forge for herself out west. This is a tension that will be painfully familiar to many audience members, a conflict of duty and ambition that gradually comes to guide many, if not most, parental relationships.

Entanglement It is the directorial debut of Leah Nelson, who has the difficult task of balancing the film’s humor and sadness. She tends to prefer the lighter side. Entanglement He maintains his cheerful façade even when things for the Levitt family get particularly difficult. Perhaps I’m overly influenced by the bleakness of past dementia dramas, but I was longing for a little more grit, and some deeper pathos, from this gentle, airy film.

Since this is a memoir of a family tragedy based on the graphic memoir of a lesbian, it’s hard not to compare Entanglement To the wonderful and broken Alison Bechdel Fun housewhich was made into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Bechdel found painfully specific ways to capture the struggles she had with her father, and those he had with his sexuality. There is an offbeat yet frank poetry in Bechdel’s depiction of how memories of everyday life details are recorded just as effectively as important events.

EntanglementOn the other hand, it stays more at the surface level. It hits the right notes—sorrow, devotion, gratitude in the face of loss—but it all seems almost theoretical, as if the idea of ​​those feelings is being presented to us rather than the feelings themselves. The film has a generic feel, despite being closely based on Levitt’s actual experiences. Meanwhile, the comedy is mildly entertaining, never laugh-out-loud funny but certainly not cringe-inducing. It’s not without its clichés, however, at moments when the story could use a finer, sharper texture.

However, there is great value to be found in this serious and gentle film. Midge is voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has a real talent for voice acting (well, acting in general, really). It’s great in the latest version Sheep investigationshere he makes us love Midge’s courage, intelligence, and warmth, which makes it all the more difficult to watch her slip away. Abbi Jacobson plays the vivacious and sympathetic Sarah, while Bryan Cranston does his best father work since Malcolm in the middle. The production attracted an impressive array of supporting talent as well: Seth Rogen (whose company co-produced the film), Sarah Silverman, Bowen Young, Pamela Adlon, Beanie Feldstein, Wanda Sykes, and Samira Wiley, all lending their bright, distinct voices to the film.

Nelson and her team have thoughtfully animated what were previously static images; The film looks beautiful, its black-and-white images alternating between comforting and miserable. The film is a gentle reminder that animation doesn’t always have to be the shiny, plasticky Pixar or Illumination variety. Entanglement It is more detailed and individual, although its animation has been significantly altered—in scale, detail, and shading—from what is in Levitt’s memoirs. This was probably the only way to make the film commercially viable, to make its visuals closer to what is usually released in theaters. However, Nelson has at least preserved some of the distinctive spirit of Levitt’s work.

It’s hard to recommend a movie about Alzheimer’s, which is so sad and scary. But I imagine so Entanglement It will prove cathartic for many viewers who have lived through something similar, with the film serving as an outstretched hand of support, comfort and understanding. It’s an approach that’s entirely worthy of the film’s existence, even if it leaves one wanting to tell a slightly bolder story. I hope the film will find people who will be more receptive to its consoling kindness, those who perhaps don’t need a European auteur’s grand vision of what is, for many, a completely uncinematic, everyday struggle.