I had a couple passes for the movies that were gonna expire very quickly. Since I’m usually pretty hooked up with A list, I offered to share them with a friend. I let him pick the movie. He came to me ready to defend his choice of Gloria Bell and did not expect me to respond with an unenthusiastic “okay”. I wasn’t really interested in this movie, but I do love Julianne Moore and this was getting positive reviews. That’s worth taking a chance on with free tickets, esp if it meant a fun night out with a fave movie buddy.
Right so Julianne Moore plays Gloria Bell, I think we’ve established that much. Gloria is a divorcee in her 50s trying to find her joy in life now that her adult kids don’t really need her any more. One of her joys is dancing at discos, which is where she meets John Turturro’s Arnold. Could this potential suitor be the key to that happiness? Or is there more to life out there for her.
It probably goes without saying but Julianne was incredible. She brought this character to life with such dimension that I absolutely loved her. I cared about her and wanted to her to win at life. When she would sing in her car, I was her and she was me. (Actually yeah, I was almost uncomfortable with how much of myself I saw in Gloria at times). Without her, this movie would have no merit to it.
I didn’t care for how the story played out. To me, the only thing worse than a film that’s completely predictable is one where you really have no idea where it’s trying to go. There was a point about halfway thru where I was like “Soooo, what’s next? Are we done? There’s more? What more?” Movie buddy disagreed and said that dwelling on the seemingly mundane makes it feel like everyone’s story is worth telling. But I want more happening.
What I didn’t care for was John Turturro. I love him as an actor, but his character creeped me out from the getgo. The super seductive trying too hard look that he’d give when he was coming on to Julianne set off alarm bells for me. I just couldn’t get behind his storyline, and I did not like him as a love interest.
One thing that really stood out in this film was the music. Lots and lots of disco. At times, it was hard to take seriously, but at other times, it was utilized beautifully. There was more than one instance of me and movie buddy lip synching with full gusto in our seats along with Gloria. Still, I think I woulda preferred to watch Captain Marvel again
Gloria Bell – \m/ \m/ \m/