Absolutely Unforgettable Character in Posey's Hands -- So Moving
I've always been a fan of Parker Posey's comedy though usually I find her to be acting in her own universe and a bit oblivious to the other actors and tones of scenes.
However, she BLEW ME AWAY in this film with completely new ground as an actress. Her lost, lonely Nora really affected me, never so much as the moment when she grabs Melvin P. around the waist as he is about to leave New York, and when she sits in a restaurant with Gena Rowlands discussing how desperate she is for someone to love her. Ditto a moment when her back is fully to the camera and a "witch doctor" says just the right thing to her at the right moment.
I think this performance, with its bundles of nervous energy, deadpan wit and melancholy disillusionment is just a gem, a real portrait of a woman (or person) of a certain age, on the periphery of what she thinks real life should be like, which feels completely out of reach both professionally and personally. She is too smart for her cicumstances (and that comes from Posey, not the screenplay) and she knows it, yet she just can't get anywhere.
She may be very funny in this role such as when Nora "acts" full-out flirty and over the top with potential boyfriend Justin Theroux. But it isn't the humor that gets you with her here. What affects you are all of those human moments when she feels so fragile that she is going to break, one of the best being when she returns to her stoop to see him sitting there.
This performance is galvanizing and it runs rings around any other look at a modern woman with issues that we have seen in years. It ranks with Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose as the best of the year so far, with Leslie Mann right behind them for her caustic and frustrated wife in Knocked Up (yes, you heard me right).
I hope she is not forgotten at awards season, or just relegated to Independent Spirit Awards because she has the baggage of being Parker Posey and is appearing in a film by Zoe Cassavettes. The performance is too good and deserves much more.