Movie Review: Outside In

Outside In *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Lynn Shelton.

Written by: Jay Duplass and Lynn Shelton.

Starring: Edie Falco (Carol), Jay Duplass (Chris), Kaitlyn Dever (Hildy), Ben Schwartz (Ted), Aaron Blakely (Shane), Alycia Delmore (Tara), Stephen Grenley (Phil), Louis Hobson (Matt), Charles Leggett (Tom), Matt Malloy (Russell).

 

Lynn Shelton’s Outside In is a very quiet film about two people who share a deep connection which is destined to be broken. When Chris (Jay Duplass) was a teenager, he was involved in a crime – it wasn’t necessarily his fault, but he was caught – unlike the others involved – and for that, he has spent 20 years in prison. His former high school teacher, Carol (Edie Falco) has worked throughout that time trying to get him released, which is finally happening as the film opens. Carol and Chris have spent a lot of time during the past years talking on the phone to each other – but its one thing to have that sort of bond – a bond that can only go so far, and has definite boundaries that are impossible to cross. It’s another now that’s he’s out in the real world. You immediately understand the seismic shift for someone like Chris – out of jail for the first time in 20 years, and seeing that your world has moved on in many ways. But the shift for Carol is just as great, in ways she doesn’t fully realize.

 

Strangely, the film seems to work best when Carol and Chris are apart, not together. Now that Chris is out, Carol isn’t quite sure what to do with herself – all the work she did to help Chris is now over, so how will she spend her time? She has a teenage daughter, Hildy (Kaitlyn Dever) – but she doesn’t quite know how to relate to her, perhaps because she has spent so much time with Chris’ case that there relationship is strained, or maybe just because Hildy is a teenage girl, and their relationships with their mothers is often strained. She reaches out to try and reconnect with her husband Tom (Charles Leggett) – but he doesn’t much seem interested. He’s used to his routines, and is dismissive of Carol and her work (she refers to what she did for Chris as a “hobby”). Tom’s goal seems to be to ride out the clock until retirement – then, perhaps, he can reconnect with his wife.

 

For Chris, he isn’t sure what to do. He’s living with his brother, Ted (Ben Schwartz), who is trying to mask his own guilt with big shows of affection and alcohol. There is a party at the beginning where everyone seems so supportive of Chris – who assure him that whatever he needs, they’ll be there for him. But when he does reach out, it’s not quite the reaction he wants. He has no job – no real skills – and is behind everyone else his age. He and Hildy become friends – and not in a creepy way, really. In some strange way, they are both facing the same dilemmas – and both want some sort of connection with Carol that they don’t have. It’s as if they both think if they get to know each other, than perhaps they’ll get to know Carol.

 

The movie hits many of the beats you expect it to, and ends up in the place you probably think it’s going to when you start the film. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The film is so attuned to its characters – especially Carol – that it makes the most of the smaller moments. Falco has been a great actress for a while now, but she doesn’t get the film roles to show it. She does here, even if you think you don’t need to see another movie about a middle age woman asserting her independence, the film gets there subtly, and the revelations feel earned. Duplass isn’t quite as good – the role isn’t as good – but he is very good at showing Chris’ mixture of relief and nervousness about being out. He’s at his best when he’s simply riding with bike down lonely streets. Dever – who was so good in Short Term 12 – is very good as Hildy as well. And the normally comedic Schwartz has a few nice dramatic moments.

 

Outside In has modest ambitions to be sure, but for the most part fulfills them. Unlike much of Shelton’s work, the film doesn’t really have any comedy in it (the characters barely crack a smile) – but like those other films (the best of which is probably Your Sister’s Sister), it is attuned to everyday life, and the emotions feel genuine.