Movie Review: Marjorie Prime

Marjorie Prime *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Michael Almereyda.

Written by: Michael Almereyda based on the play by Jordan Harrison.

Starring: Jon Hamm (Walter), Geena Davis (Tess), Tim Robbins (Jon), Lois Smith (Marjorie), Hannah Gross (Young Marjorie), Stephanie Andujar (Julie), Hana Colley (10yr Marjorie Granddaughter).

 

Marjorie Prime is the rare science fiction film that contains almost no special effects, and is almost completely dedicated to the characters, rather than the technology of the future. It’s based on a play, and that should give you an idea of what the movie will eventually turn out to be – a series of conversations. Really, the film uses its science fiction premise as a jumping off point to explore more interesting, complicated issues.

 

The film opens with a conversation between Marjorie (Lois Smith) and Walter (Jon Hamm). She’s in her 80s, and he’s in his 40s, and yet the pair are husband and wife, and they are reminiscing about their shared past. Walter is what is known as a Prime – a hologram, who is programmed to look and sound like a deceased love one, to provide companionship and comfort. Marjorie’s memory is fading, and having Walter there is a comfort to her – he reminds her to do things like eat, but their conversations go deeper than that as well. While he reminds her of her past, he’s also learning – he can only know of their past if he’s told about it. The two other major characters in the film are Marjorie’s daughter Tess (Geena Davis) and her husband Jon (Tim Robbins). Tess doesn’t really like Walter Prime – it’s weird seeing her long dead father in her living room, talking to her mother, and isn’t sure it’s good for her either – as it dredges up the past in ways she doesn’t really want it to, and calls to mind all the ways in which she feels her mother – who was distant through her life – may have failed her. Jon is all for it however – thinks it helps Marjorie, and eases their own burden. He talks the Walter more than Tess does – sharing the family history that Walter can feed Marjorie.

 

From there, the movie moves into interesting directions, with subtle shifts and reveals that we sometimes spot immediately, and sometimes take a while to spot. Yes, the film certainly feels like it is adapted from a play – in that you can easily see exactly how it would work on stage – but director Michael Almereyda is smart enough to open it just a little. It’s not all one static setting, but it is entirely within this beach house – yet even that provides different locations, that give off different feelings for each scene. The performances in the movie are excellent. Lois Smith has had a long, great career stretching all the back to the 1950s (her first film role was in Elia Kazan’s East of Eden in 1955) – and apparently, she played this role on the stage as well. It truly is a great performance, particularly as it develops, and you see how she changes. For her part, this is the best work I’ve seen from Geena Davis in years as well – as the daughter who is trying to hold it together, trying to hold everything inside – and only gradually do we realize she cannot. The men don’t fare quite as good – it’s not that either Robbins or Hamm are bad in the film, they are actually quite good – but just their roles don’t quite allow as much depth (especially Hamm’s). They are as good as they can be – but the movie belongs to Smith and Davis.

 

I cannot help but wonder if the farther I get away from Marjorie Prime, if I’ll like it even more. On the first viewing, I admired everything about it – the writing, the directing, the acting, while fully admitting that the film never really moves from being an intellectual exercise into something more emotional or fulfilling – it’s a thought experiment more than fully movie. Yet, I had similar feelings about director Almereyda’s last film – Experimenter – and that has slowly become one of under-the-radar favorites of the last few years. Both films initially seem cold on the surface – although I think that’s intentional in both cases. Experimenter rewards a deeper look, in a way that I don’t think Marjorie Prime quite does. But I will say, I want to revisit this film again – and see if I’m right or wrong about that.