Where do you start with a film like Maladies? There aren’t too many films around like it and for good reason. It’s a difficult film to watch. Sometimes you find yourself laughing, other times you find yourself feeling guilty for laughing. The film has a certain charm about it, in the way it delivers itself with it’s light-hearted approach, but then the tones shift aggressively and without warning and it begins to make you feel uneasy and becomes difficult to follow.
James Franco plays James, a young actor, now retired, living in small town with his sister, Patricia (Fallon Goodson) and his friend Catherine (Catherine Keener). A keen fan and admirer of James’, Delmar (David Strathairn) lives across the road from the friends and often visits, citing his sadness that James is no longer an actor on his favourite Soap Opera. Each character seems to be dealing with their own personal problems/affliction/or you guessed it, malady. James’ problems are clear as day to see, and you suspect his sister (although we never see much from her POV) is dealing with the same issues as he does. Catherine suffers from the urge to cross-dress as a man, something which confuses James. James is passionate about his writing, but he’s tormented by many of his never-ending issues, one being a constant narration in his head which slightly resembles Stranger Than Fiction both in delivery and the way in which the character deals and reacts to it. Is the voice real or is it just inside James’ head? We can’t be sure, you would assume the latter, but there are times where the Narrator narrates the scene, making reference to elements that James cannot see himself. It’s a confused plot point for the film and that’s a running theme.
At its best Maladies is an ambitious film, and ambition should always be celebrated and rewarded. There are some issues with delivery of the story and there are occasions where it seems like the story is trying to be too smart for it’s own good. You never really see where the finishing line is, how this story can end, and you grow even more frustrated when it does. While it has playful moments don’t mistake this for a light-hearted film, it’s to be taken very seriously. It comes across lethargic at times though, and it’s difficult to ever fully invest in it. That’s not to take away from the cast, who give it their all. Franco shows just why he’s held in such high regard as an actor, and while he may still be a draw for the big budgets, it’s these smaller films which will always hold a place in his heart, it seems, and where he will always continue to shine brightest. Catherine Keener is consistent as ever, even if it is hard to take her seriously with a pencil-drawn moustache. It’s David Strathairn who steals the show with his magical performance as Delmar, the closet-homosexual who quite clearly has, at the least, a crush on James, but most likely is more towards being devotedly in love with him. We see him struggle with this throughout the whole film with his subtle approach and you feel without it the film would have struggled to ever really get going.
Maladies is bold but very restricting due to the story never going anywhere. This doesn’t feel like a film for general consumption, even with it’s wonderful cast and, at times, thought-provoking story. While it’s enjoyable with some quite wonderful insights into life and creativity it seems to be slightly vein, rather than telling a true story.
Rating: The cast give their all in this story about life’s problems and identity. (5.5/10)
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