20th Century Women (2016)

I felt I'd seen enough comedies or semi-comedies in a row. This movie looked suitably serious, not least with A24 distribution. Turns out it's a dramedy. Oh well, I hardly noticed.

Apart from brief flashbacks and flash-forwards, the setting is 1979 Santa Barbara. Dorothea (Annette Bening), 55, feels inadequate as the single mom of Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), 15, and doesn't count on middle-aged tenant and potential boyfriend William (Billy Crudup) to supplement her efforts. She asks her other unrelated tenant, 24-year-old Abbie (Greta Gerwig), and Jamie's closest female friend, 17-year-old Julie (Elle Fanning), to help him grow up healthily. But Jamie's not keen on this arrangement, and the ladies have conflicting ideas of how to go about it.

Yeah, Dorothea was pretty old when she had her only child, which contributes to her difficulty relating to Jamie's generation. In particular, he digs punk rock, and she and William don't get the point of it. But that's not the main problem. She smokes like a chimney and hasn't pursued a serious relationship since splitting up with Jamie's dad, seemingly lonely on purpose. (William isn't my idea of bad, just not Mr. Right.)

Alas, Abbie and Julie don't make much better role models with their looseness and pro-smoking stance. No, neither comes on to Jamie. Indeed, Julie turns down his advances for fear of ruining their friendship. Abbie says the two shouldn't sleep together like brother and sister either.

I don't recall any illegal drugs in the picture. Jamie tries tobacco and alcohol, and women talk of contraceptives and fertility drugs, one of which got pulled off the shelves, but that's it. Brief sex and nudity are the main reasons for an R rating.

Oddly enough, Dorothea objects most to moves that have nothing to do with drugs or carnal relationships. Abbie gives Jamie several feminist books, which, while potentially beneficial, don't really have anything to do with bringing him closer to manhood. Julie has too much confidence in her understanding of psychology thanks to her pro mother, and Jamie picks up some wrong ideas of how to talk to other guys. Both Abbie and Julie get overly candid at the dinner table. AFAICT, that's the main funny part.

The film includes frequent narration by any of the five main characters. I'm OK with that, but it gets a little awkward when they switch to the future tense for the epilogue, especially when Dorothea says when and how she'll die. Eh, could be worse.

Things never really come to a head; the drama remains pretty mild. Perhaps the most distress comes to Abbie, who learns of possible dire consequences of cancer. This barely affects the rest of the plot.

Maybe that low intensity is just as well. 20CW works best as a window on some credible lives. And whoever you are, you should find them at least understandable.