“For Worse” is the utterly charming and very real story that Amy Landeker wrote and directed for herself to star in, and she’s given us a lusty meal to bite into and savor.
Lauren (Landeker) and her soon to be ex, Chase, sit and face their unctuous divorce mediator (played by a pathetically funny Simon Helberg). A good idea, in theory, Lauren and Chase are the mature ones in the room, eager to leave and face their new lives. That is to say that Chase has a new life with his chirpily cheerful life coach girlfriend and Lauren, well Lauren just has to start over and make sure that their precociously mature young daughter survives the co-parenting. It’s not that there’s any danger in the coparenting, it’s that Chase’s partner seems to have so much more under control than she does and it’s annoying.
Her best friend Julie wants her to seize her new freedom and find adventure. Believing more in baby steps, Lauren enrolls in an acting class. The oldest person in the room, possibly even older than their outrageously method teacher, Liz, she reluctantly embraces this chance. Imagine her surprise when her reading partner, the very cool Sean, invites her to study more than their lines. What’s more, one of her classmates is determined to get her an agent. Lauren may not realize her potential but those younger and wiser do. Still she leads with hesitation. They want to party and her “partying days” ended with her twelve-step program; something she is reluctant to divulge to this group of emerging adults.
A new, overwhelming challenge comes in the form of a spontaneous wedding invitation. Enjoying an evening out with the class, Maria announces that she wants all of them at her wedding. In Lauren’s eyes this was a mercy invite but Sean convinces her otherwise and promises he won’t leave her side.
Long past high school, she feels cornered to pretend she is something other than what she is. But what is she? There is the question or rather there lies the rub. Puberty couldn’t possibly have been as painful as what this stage of life is offering. She may have forgotten all the unrequited crushes, the mean girls and the overwhelming desire to look cool. But then again, this may be a case of those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it and Lauren is on the cusp of reliving some of that past,
Also on the outside looking in is Dave, father of the bride, recently divorced and forced to face the man who replaced him, the very new-age cringy Chuck. Dave, like Lauren, is at sea and as in all such movies, they need to find a way to paddle to shore together. How they do that contributes to the merriment.
This is not new territory but it’s told well. Landecker has filled this story with characters who develop, humorous scenes and a relatable scenario for all those looking for a safe place to land. The cast is delightful. Sean is played by a charming Niko Haraga who is the remarkably mature foil to the insecure Lauren. Lauren’s best friend Julie is played by Missi Pyle, one of my favorite comedic character actors. Her Julie leads with a lascivious twinkle in her eye that underscores her lust for life, something she wants her friend to embrace. Acting teacher Liz is Gaby Hoffman whose outrageous advice and exercises seem to give credence to the expression “those who can do, those who can’t teach.” And yet, what Lauren ends up learning may be more about letting go than acting.
Bradley Whitford makes a late entry as Dave, the father of the bride who wears his abandonment issues on his sleeve. Warm, bewildered and sympathetic, it’s obvious from the moment he appears that he is the yin to Lauren’s yang. And finally, there is the writer/director Amy Landeker as Lauren. Her Lauren is delightful, off center, insecure and wobbly — she embodies the everywoman of middle age who has to renegotiate life. It’s a juicy role and she played it like she knew it personally, which, it turns out, she did. Good for her; we’re the better for it.
“For Worse” did not break new ground. As has been said, there are no new stories so the writer has to find a way to tell it well and this writer did. At an hour and a half, Landeker has given us a delightful film that flies by.
Opening February 27 at the Laemmle Royal.
