Movie Review: Nancy

Nancy **** / *****

Directed by: Christina Choe.

Written by: Christina Choe.

Starring: Andrea Riseborough (Nancy Freeman), Steve Buscemi (Leo), Ann Dowd (Betty), John Leguizamo (Jeb), J. Smith-Cameron (Ellen).

 

For the most part, when people say an actor or actress are unrecognizable in a part, I almost immediately recognize them. Yes, physical transformations can be impressive, but even with extra (or less) weight, a lot of makeup or any other cosmetic changes actors make to their bodies, I can tell who they are immediately. One of the only actresses where this is actually true of though is Andrea Riseborough. I’ve seen her in at least a dozen projects, she’s always terrific, and she really does have the ability to completely disappear into each and every one of her characters. Perhaps that’s why she isn’t a bigger star than she is.

 

This ability is the key to why the disturbing film Nancy works as well as it does. In the film, Riseborough plays the title character – who we know from early on is a serial liar and imposter – reaching out on the Internet for emotional support for issues she doesn’t actually have, to hide from the issues she actually does. She’s in her 30s, has to take care of her mother (Ann Dowd), who can be downright cruel to her, and works as a temp – the latest of which is at a dentist’s office, where she shows her co-workers pictures of her vacation to North Korea. She also meets up with Jeb (John Leguizamo) at a coffee shop – the two of them met online, bonding over the death of their babies – the difference being that Jeb’s was an actual baby, and as far as we can tell, Nancy’s was not. We know for sure that she isn’t actually pregnant when she meets him there – we see her strap on a fake belly and pretend to anyway. After a traumatic event in her life, she sees a news story about a couple, Leo (Steve Buscemi) and Ellen (J. Smith Cameron) whose five-year-old daughter disappeared 30 years ago. She finds an “age enhanced” picture, and it really does look like Nancy. She calls up and tells them she thinks she may be their long lost daughter. The rest of the movie is the three of them together, getting to know each other, as they wait for a DNA test to determine the truth,

 

One of the most fascinating aspects of Nancy, the movie, is that it never really tells us how much of what Nancy, the character, is saying is true or not. We know she is more than capable of lying – her whole interaction with Jeb proves that, but even then, she when she’s caught in that lie, she says all she lied about was the timing, not the truth – and the movie never really disapproves her. It also never disproves her story about her mother that she tells to Leo and Ellen – we obviously think it’s a lie, but is it? Does she really believe that she may be their long lost child, or is this another desperate plea for attention, that edges over into cruelty? Because if she knows she is lying to Leo and Ellen, then that is all that it be described as – downright cruel. But maybe she’s telling the truth?

 

For their part, Leo and Ellen are never less than kind and generous. Ellen desperately wants to believe that this is her long lost daughter. Leo is more guarded – he doesn’t really want to get involved until he knows for sure, and is more skeptical. Yet, he remains kind throughout the process.

 

This is director Christina Choe’s first film as a director, and it’s a good one. She pulls a neat trick part way through the movie, as she expands the aspect ratio once Nancy meets Leo and Ellen, and has her own world expanded. That sounds kind of pretentious – but she doesn’t do it in a show offy kind of way (that can work too – I didn’t mind Xavier Dolan doing it in Mommy, and that was definitely him showing off), but here it’s so subtle you may not even notice when you watch it at home on your TV screen. She is perhaps a little committed to her determination to not provide any answers to anything – there is a fine line between being ambiguous, and just not providing information audiences require, and this one stays just this side of that line. And yet, the movie is never less than fascinating and engrossing – you are drawn in by Riseborough’s face, which he keeps calm and neutral – she doesn’t want to betray any emotions, or her own lies, and yet you can see small, subtle changes throughout the film that change the way you feel about her. She is a fascinating character, at the heart of this odd little film.