Danner blythely charms in rom-com 'Dreams'
What many Hollywood screenwriters don't get - or get and just don't care - is that setting up a character to be wonderful, noble or just plain too good to be true has the same effect as putting a red shirt on that character and sending him/her on the set of a vintage "Star Trek" episode.
The most glaring example occurs in "Men Don't Leave," a domestic drama that sets up Tom Mason to be such a perfect husband and father, you can count down the minutes to the horrible explosion that kills him.
I only mention this because Brett Haley's unassuming AARP-demographical romance "I'll See You in My Dreams" employs this convention, yet skillfully sidesteps the treacly sentiment that usually accompanies it.
Despite its admittedly hokey title - taken from a 1924 song and the 1951 movie biography about its lyricist - "I'll See You in My Dreams" possesses a slow charm and quiet sophistication that eases us into the multifaceted world of senior citizen relationships, be they family, friends or potential suitors.
They are dramatized by strong, seasoned performers armed with a knowing, sensitive screenplay that wisely avoids both extremes of the bitter and the sweet.
The story begins with utter sadness as retired L.A. schoolteacher Carol (Blythe Danner, a gifted actress long before being known as Gwyneth Paltrow's mother) tearfully comforts her sick dog as a vet puts him down.
The dog was Carol's companion after her husband died 20 years earlier. Now cast into a life of relative loneliness, Carol relies on card games with three pals for company and diversion.
These saucy ladies - Mary Kay Place, Rhea Perlman and June Squibb - persuade Carol to dip her toe back into the dating pool. This leads Carol to try "speed-dating," a throw away excuse for a quick-cut montage of self-centered, sometimes creepy guys (one played by "Barney Miller" vet Max Gail) who are clearly wrong for Carol.
Then, two men enter Carol's cloistered world.
Lloyd (Martin Starr, emanating deadpan charm) arrives one day to replace her regular pool cleaner. Lloyd wanted to be a poet. Now he lives at home with Mom and unfulfilled dreams.
Carol wanted to be a singer. Now she lives alone with the same. They slowly forge a friendship. One afternoon after liberal applications of wine, Carol and Lloyd do what comes naturally: karaoke!
Then there's Bill, played by Sam Elliott, a raspy-voiced, silver-haired bachelor who can turn a come-hither look into an irresistible offer. Confident, low-key and attentive, Bill moves quickly to secure the things he likes.
Bill spots Carol looking at cosmetics in a store, then chooses a target-specific opening line to drop on her.
"You don't need all that," his husky voice says. "You're all right the way you are."
Halfway through the movie, Carol's adult daughter Katherine (Malin Akerman, who really could pass for Danner's daughter) flies into L.A. to check on Mom.
Katherine clearly leads her own life. She visits Carol partly out of genuine concern, but also out of a transparent sense of familial obligation. Aren't most families just like that?
"I'll See You in My Dreams" could easily slip into senior citizen cliché nightmares, but the screenplay, by Haley and Marc Basch, packs plenty of respect for this character demographic.
If Carol and her pals get stoned on weed and must perform an obligatory got-the-munchies scene for cheap laughs, the actors at least pump the moment with palpable cuteness.
Life is more than polarized reactions of laughs and tears. "I'll See You in My Dreams" knows it and shows it.
As for Danner, this amazing actress turned 72 this year. Bill turned out to be correct.
She's all right just the way she is.
“I'll See You in My Dreams”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Blythe Danner, Sam Elliott, Martin Starr, Malin Akerman, Rhea Perlman, May Kay Place
Directed by: Brett Haley
Other: A Bleecker Street Media release. Opens at the River East and Century Centre in Chicago, plus the Evanston CineArts 6. Rated PG-13 for drug use, language, sexual situations. 95 minutes