Film Review — Black Bear
★★★☆☆
Seeking inspiration, a filmmaker retreats to a remote lake house, but her arrival quickly causes friction between the couple hosting her.
At the tail end of Black Bear, we shakily follow an inebriated protagonist as she stumbles around a woozy wooden cabin, her emotions seemingly in tandem with a disturbing piece of dissonant jazz. The scene perfectly encapsulates my current feeling towards this well-crafted, better-acted, but ultimately bewildering film.
The revelation that director/writer Lawrence Michael Levine found inspiration in his own dreams lifts the shroud of mystery somewhat. This is supposed to be a confusing experience, comprising fragments of ideas and maybe even memories that, while sharing a common theme, feel very much at war with each other. It’s audacious, but it’s also incredibly frustrating.
Trying hard not to give too much away, the film is essentially split into two parts. The first, a social-romantic drama with slow-build erotic tension, is completely engrossing, far more interesting than anything the second — a sharp u-turn into a meta, art-imitates-life-imitates-art melodrama, featuring unfunny jokes about explosive diarrhoea — could possibly conjure.
By far the best thing about this is Aubrey Plaza. Her talent for comedy has long been known, but here she demonstrates considerable range in a multi-faceted performance that elevates the film from its fart-huffing pretentiousness.
More dramatic roles for Ms Plaza, please.
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