Propelled by the star power of Shirley MacLaine and Marcello Mastroianni, and greatly enhanced by the contributions of a sharp screenwriter, a cunning director, and an exceptionally strong supporting cast, this is a warm, wise and witty film that you should see with the one you love, or the mother who drives you crazy, or both.
Working in a frankly autobiographical mode, actor-turned-screenwriter Todd Graff has stitched together a crazy-quilt dramedy of love and pain, laughter and embarrassment, self-delusion and sudden awareness in Queens, N.Y., circa 1969.
It’s a challenging piece of material, and, fortunately for all parties concerned, British-born director Beeban Kidron (Antonia and Jane) is up to the challenge. She does a splendidly deft job of maneuvering the movie through some vertiginous mood swings, and brings a keen ear, a sharp eye, and a sympathetic heart to exploring the juicy eccentricities of Graff’s characters.
The multilayered plot hinges on Pearl Berman (MacLaine), a formidable Jewish matriarch who has just lost her husband of 37 years. On the day of his funeral, she’s approached by a stranger, Joe Meledandri (Mastroianni), a courtly Old World Italian gentleman who claims to be a friend of her late husband.
It takes Pearl a while to realize that Joe’s intentions, while honorable, are definitely romantic. But it takes Pearl’s feisty mother (Jessica Tandy) no time at all to make her disapproval known: ‘‘She got picked up at her own husband’s funeral! Now I’ve seen everything!’’
Pearl is surprised — and, though she would never admit it, a little flattered — but takes a skeptical view of second chances. Her destiny, she feels, is to be a faithful widow. Not an uncomplaining widow, mind you, but a faithful one.
Still, Pearl doesn’t reject Joe entirely — much to the chagrin of her grown daughters, Bibby (Kathy Bates) and Norma (Marcia Gay Harden), divorced mothers who would do much better to focus on their own messy lives.
Unfortunately, she’s also leaving behind her surviving son, 12-year-old Swee’ Pea (Matthew Branton), whose reaction to his grandfather’s demise could be harmful to his own health.
Used People gives each of these vibrant characters sufficient time and space to develop into vividly defined, sometimes contradictory human beings. (Pearl isn’t always easy to take, much less love, but the movie is all the better for it.) And the movie’s generosity spills over into its depiction of secondary characters. Frank (Joe Pantoliano) is a sleazy womanizer who has a terrifically funny scene with Norma that involves hot wax, handcuffs, and The Graduate. But Frank also happens to be a psychologist, and he’s the only adult who recognizes that something is terribly wrong with Swee’ Pea. In the world according to Used People, even a sleaze is capable of compassion and insight.
And even Pearl is capable of seizing happiness — if she really wants to. Midway through the film, she and Joe share a very public kiss in a neighborhood park. It’s a shimmering moment of movie magic that brightens the screen and tickles the heart. Which is pretty much what the rest of Used People does, too.
