Starting Out In the Evening

Not often do I find a thoughtful, quiet, smart, touching, poignant movie. And Langella is tender and touching in his performance of an aging, reclusive, used-to-be-famous literary giant. If you want to watch a poignant, thoughtful movie with beautiful performances throughout, watch this. A+++

There's two interwoven plotlines in this intimate reflective picture, and they don't combine especially well. One of them follows predictable Hollywood formula, but thankfully, the more intriguing plot avoids cliche and remains surprising, right through to the messy finish. It's a humorlessly grim picture as all the characters face their own challenges, but hangs together by virtues of the performances. An aging novelist grinds toward finishing his last novel. Langella does a stalwart and nuanced performance within a relatively one-dimensional role. The grad student is enchanted with his work, and unafraid of her attraction to the man himself. Ambrose is luminously human, and makes her awkward moments and motivations very plausible. The author's daughter is a dancer facing her own age at 40. Taylor is completely sympathetic even when unreasonable or contentious. Her love interest is determined to stick to his own priorities in conflict with hers. Lester heroically squeezes the most out of the 4th place role. It's rather like watching a rough first performance of a new play that hasn't effectively worked out its plot dynamics, but in which the actors are fiercely committed regardless. Recommended for fans of Langella or Ambrose. Both her performance and her character are the best aspects of the film, and then he steps up ably with fortitude and intricacy to meet her challenge.