Now Showing: Love Is...

 

Love Is...

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Director: Greta Gerwig

Writer: Joshua Collins

Cast: Paul Dano, Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Vivien Lyra Blair, Steve Martin, Zoe Kravitz, Gian Knight Ramirez, Blythe Danner, Azriel Dalmon, Christine Baranski, Charlie Townsend

Plot: The film starts at a funeral as Katharine Miller’s casket is being lowered into the ground. Her family is watching, all with somber expressions on their faces: Her husband, Thomas (Paul Dano), has his arm on his 10-year-old daughter, Katie (Vivien Lyra Blair) consoling her as she buries her face in his shoulder. Thomas’ 16-year-old son, Jayce (Jacob Tremblay), is sitting next to his dad, staring straight ahead and fighting his urges to cry Further back, (easiest access to the vehicles) stands Katharine’s father, Edgar (Steve Martin). They didn’t have the closest relationship, but he still wanted to pay his respects.

As the funeral wraps up and the crowd disperses, Thomas and his kids walk away. He passes Edgar, saying, “Thanks for coming, Edgar. It would have meant a lot to her.” Edgar nods, he regretted not being able to say goodbye sooner to his daughter. As the crowd clears out, Edgar stands alone, quietly staring at Katharine’s gravestone.

At the wake, Tyler (Jack Dylan Grazer), Jayce’s best friend from kindergarten, catches up to Jayce. Tyler mentions that he’ll make an exception to the “friend-hug” rule they’ve had and gives Jayce a hug, Jayce embraces it. As the hug lingers a little longer than expected, Tyler tries to give Jayce a friendly pat to signal to end the hug. Tyler mentions that his mom was a great cook. Jayce lets up on the hug and agrees. Meanwhile, Katie approaches her dad and whispers in her ear. Thomas nods and leads her to a place that’s more quiet.

Katie is sitting by Thomas as Thomas is putting together her diabetic supplies. She mentions how she’s going to miss mom holding her. Thomas says he’ll miss her too, “But we got this, girl.” he says, as he places her dexcom on her arm. “Don’t push the button..” she says, “I know sweetie, not til you say so.” he says. She does a slow countdown from 3..2..1 and Thomas pushes the button. She flinches, but is ok. “One more dexcom change out of the way,” Thomas says.

As the wake is wrapping up and people are going home, Tyler asks if Jayce wants to game later. He agrees to the invite. Thomas tosses Jayce the keys, wanting to give Jayce his much needed practice. Katie on the other hand, is apprehensive to Jayce driving them home. As Jayce is trying, Katie makes sassy-funny quips in the backseat about how they’re gonna die and how dad should have let her drive. While Thomas tries to maintain order between both of them, Jayce almost rear-ends a police patrol car at a red-light. Thomas ultimately decides to switch seats with Jayce, telling him “maybe later when its just you and me,” and Jayce rolls his eyes, “Yeah, whatever.”

As Thomas drives with Jayce staring out the window and Katie playing on her phone, we get a voice over from Thomas, talking about navigating his grief and being a widowed single parent, sharing a few details about Katharine. We learn that she died of cancer as the scene transitions to Thomas in a grief counseling session in a group setting. Thomas says that Katharine gave her blessing that it was ok to move on and not let her death be the end of his life. “I’ve got Type-1-Diabetic kid and a son who I feel miles away from.”

At the nursing home where Edgar lives, we see some elderly people doing all kinds of stuff to keep themselves entertained. Edgar singing karaoke, Some residents playing chess, others watching TV with CNN on. As a couple of old guys(one a democrat, the other a republican) argue about each others’ sides, until a nurse interrupts them by saying “this is why we have a rule against no news on the TV, guys.” she puts the TV on a channel for classic movies. The old guys watch the TV for a moment before the movie causes them to launch into another argument.

The scene transitions to Edgar walking down the hall toward his room as his singing from the previous scene fades out. There is commotion coming from his neighbor, Linda’s room. He peeks in the doorway to see Linda (Blythe Danner) is having an “episode” and the nurse is trying to calm her down, “I know Miss Linda, but its time for your medicine now.” Linda retorts with, “You’re not gonna put that poison in me.” she looks at Edgar standing in the doorway, “Thank god you’re here, Henry. Tell this fallen angel to get away from me.” The nurse reminds Linda that its not Henry, that, its Mr. Edgar. Edgar decides to hold Linda’s hand anyway, and his touch makes her calm down. “Thanks Edgar,” The nurse says, “Poor woman thinks Henry is still alive.” Edgar nods, “Died in Vietnam, I know. I was in that war, too.” After Linda takes her medicine, and lets go of Edgar’s hand. she calmly tells Edgar, “Henry, you worry about me too much. I’ll be fine.” As Edgar leaves, he passes by a picture on Linda’s wall: a black and white photo of Linda and Henry getting their pictures taken at their wedding. Edgar mutters, “I don’t look anything like ‘em.”

Jayce is in his room playing a shooter game and talking to Tyler on his headset. They laugh and trash-talk. When its time to sign off, Jayce says “I love you” when he realizes what he said and Tyler asks “wait what?” Jayce nervously laughs, “No homo.” Tyler laughs, “I love you too man, no homo.” As he lays in his bed and sulks, its implied that he’s masturbating under his bed sheet. He has a quick flashing image of he and Tyler cuddling and kissing in bed. Jayce immediately stops. “Woah, the hell was that?”

The next day, Thomas, Katie and Jayce are sitting at the dinner table before school for the kids and work for Thomas. Katie is talking about how her drama club is having auditions for a play for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Jayce teases Katie, saying she’d make the perfect ‘Dopey’ Before an argument comes up, Thomas stops it. Jayce asks where that was when she teased him about driving them home the other day. Thomas says “can we just stop, everyone stop. I’m just as beat up about your mother passing away as you both are, but we’re just gonna need to find that place to coexist.” Thomas has a few bites from his breakfast, “Good luck with that audition for Cinderella, Katie.” “Snow White, dad…” she replies. “Right, you’ll do awesome, honey.” He says.

We get a glimpse into work/school life with the family. Tyler and Jace are sitting at lunch with some other friends. They all share some ‘guy-talk’ about whose the hottest teachers and students, inappropriate things horny teen boys would talk about. As Tyler is sharing in the conversation, Jayce stares longingly at Tyler, whose oblivious to the stares. “Jayce!” One of the friends says, it shakes him out of his long stare at Tyler, “Out of all the girls in the school, who do you want to sleep with?” “Oh uhm, gosh I dunno..they’re all pretty cute.” Jayce says. The table laughs, “Bro no they aren’t.” one of the friends says. “Fine. Uhm..Becky Greenwood.” The table burst out laughing, “Jayce wants Bucktooth Becky!”

Meanwhile, Thomas is lecturing the class at the university he teaches at. He’s an English Literature teacher. In the middle of his lecture, he brings up an author that his wife liked to read, Jane Austen, and he stops himself from discussing it with the class. “Sorry, I think we’re done for the day,” as the class dismisses, one of his students, Sarah Washington (Zoe Kravitz), asks if he’s ok. “Yeah, just thought about how my wife used to read all of those silly Jane Austen books.” Sarah looks empathetic to Thomas, offering to buy him a coffee at the Student Union. “Know what? My daughter is doing an audition for a play after-school, I don’t have to get her right this moment.

We see what Edgar is upto, he sees Linda is sleeping in her bed with her door open. “Henry,” she says in her sleep. Edgar sits next to her, holding her hand. “I’m here, Linda.” Edgar says. “They say I don’t have a whole lot of time left.” Edgar gives her a look of pity, “Linda honey, don’t say that. You have more than enough time.” Linda opens her eyes and looks at Edgar, “No sweetie, I was talking to God and he asked if I’m ready to come home.” Edgar lets it sink in and he asks, “Are you?” She smiles, “Too much to be done to be hanging out with God right now.”

Back to Thomas, he is sitting and drinking coffee with Sarah. Sarah is a woman of mixed race. She tells Thomas about how she lost her black husband to a traffic stop that got out of control. Thomas expresses his condolences. Sarah says that she’s been healing, but her son is still having a hard time coping with his grief. “He doesn’t trust white people,” she says, “I don’t blame him, but I just wish I could get through to him to show him not to hate someone because of their skin color.” Thomas nods, trying to add a little levity to their grief with a humorous joke to make her laugh. “I tried to bake cookies with my daughter last week. Lets just say we now have an ongoing investigation for arson.” Sarah laughs.

The auditions for Snow White is going down in a high school auditorium. We get a series of quick clips to show the kids, trying to give it their all for the auditions. The theater director, Miss Proops (Christine Baranski), sits in the audience watching the kids, while writing notes down. Thomas slips in through one of the back doors in the audience, just as Katie is about to deliver her audition. She’s at first nervous, but she happens to catch her dad slip in and take a seat immediately. She smiles, and delivers a good enough performance to impress Miss Proops. When Katie finishes, Miss Proops stands and claps. “Great job, Katie!” Katie smiles and twirls around, “Alright, I’ve seen enough Snow Whites. Lets see some Prince Charmings.”

Some of the girls watching backstage shoot each other looks and some even murmur, “Well, we all know whose gonna be Snow White,” while another girl out of jealousy says, “She was terrible.” Katie meets up with her dad, “Great job, kiddo. When do you find out if you got the part?” Thomas asks. “Tomorrow. You really think I was that good, dad?” Katie asks, “The other girls didn’t look happy with me at all.” “Its a cutthroat industry, baby.”

Its square dancing night at the nursing home. As the participating residents are having a great time. Edgar and Linda join in, and at one point, they get a chance to dance together. While they can’t seem to move too well, its the memories they’re creating together that matter. Linda seems to have a moment where she’s “there” and she’s having a great time.

Jayce and Tyler are hanging out in Tyler’s room. Tyler is sitting at Jayce’s desk on his computer. Jayce is laying on his bed, staring at his ceiling fan. “Remember when we were little, how we would just whip our dicks out and piss in the toilet together?” Jayce asks, laughing. “Oh gosh, I nearly forgot about that,” Tyler says with a laugh, “So embarrassing.” Jayce sits up, “We such a history together.” Tyler looks at him, concerned, “You ok bro?” Jayce, “Yeah,” Tyler gives him a playful jab to Jayce’s shoulder, “I know you could always go to your mom about anything. Just know that if you need a shoulder to cry on, you got mine. I won’t even tell the guys at school.” Jayce smiles.

“Check this out,” Tyler says as he types in a web address on the computer. Jayce watched as the internet browser took them to Pornhub. We get a shot of the boys’ faces as they watch a video, Tyler appears more attracted to the girl in the video than Jayce. “Gawd damn those tits are amazing,” Tyler whispers. Jayce tries to find the right words to say, he has so much on his mind, but he’s just not quite ready to accept his identity. He just agrees.

While at the theater club, Katie and other kids are sitting down anxiously waiting for Miss Proops to announce everyone’s parts for the play. “Our Prince Charming is,” Miss Proops says, asking for a drumroll. The kids pound on their desks. “Austin Hambly!” The kids clap for Austin (Azriel Dalmon), as he smiles. “And the moment we’ve been waiting for, Snow White will be played by,” Miss Proops asks for another drumroll. “Katie Miller!” Katie overwhelmed with happiness. She squeals in delight at some of the kids clap for her, while other Snow White hopefuls are upset, one of the hopefuls is Sophia (Charlie Townsend), who makes no secret of her anger toward Katie for getting the part. She says, “I bet if my mother died, I’d be Snow White.” A line that punches Katie in the gut so hard, she leaves the room. She sits on the empty hallway, crying. “You okay?” a voice asks, Katie looks up and sees Austin standing in front of her. “Uhm, yah, just really happy about getting the part,” Katie says, wiping tears away. “Don’t listen to Sophia,” Austin says, “She’s just jealous.” He holds his hand out to her to help her up, she accepts his help and stands up. “Hey, my mom will be here to pick me up soon, maybe we can practice our parts at each others houses when we aren’t here.” Austin suggests. “Sure,” Katie says.

Sarah’s son, Toby (Gian Knight Ramirez), about 12, is playing a mature rated video game, Grand Theft Auto V, playing as Franklin and causing all kinds of chaos. “Toby, you know how I feel about you playing that game,” Sarah says. “Aint my fault. If Mario was black, I’d be playing as him,” he says, “Only games I get show my face as the criminal.”

The doorbell rings, Sarah answers. She welcomes Thomas into her home, Toby turns his head toward Sarah and Thomas. While their meeting doesn’t appear to be romantic, Toby turns his head toward the video game, with a disapproval expression on his face. He continues mowing down NPCs in the game and getting chased by the police.

Thomas’ reasoning for coming by is a way to help each other grieve in a one-on-one setting instead of a group of strangers. They exchange pleasantries, talk about literature, etc. Toby passes through the room with his basketball, on his way outside to shoot some hoops. “Toby, its getting too late. You know how the neighbors complain if they see you out there dribbling that ball around after dark.” Sarah says. “But maw, I need to practice. Team try-outs next week.” Sarah gives a half-smile, “Alright, just don’t cuss out the neighbors if they say anything. I don’t want the cops here again.”

“As long as they don’t got a problem with a black kid playing basketball before the sun goes down, we won’t have any issue,” Toby says, stepping outside.

Thomas steps outside to watch Toby play a little basketball. He does a decent job, though not spectacular. “Good job, Toby,” he says, “Nice form.” “Man, fuck outta here. I don’t need your cracker ass telling me shit I already know,” Toby says. Thomas tries to hold back saying anything, trying to understand where Toby is coming from. Thomas offers a little tip to Toby about how to improve his playing style and excel for try-outs. “Yeah, my cracker ass used to be on a basketball team too,” he says, as Toby looks a little impressed with how Thomas helped him.

Jayce is on a walk downtown. He stands outside of a gay-club, Cowboys. He takes a long look at the neon sign. A picture of cowboys eating hot-dogs together as a double innuendo. Jayce opens the front door and is met with all kinds of crazy stuff going on to show gay clubs aren’t just normal clubs, but they have a certain vibe that only those in the community would appreciate. Jayce takes it in, not truly understanding what is going on. He bumps into a club patron whose about 20/30, who instead of being offended, starts flirting with Jayce. At first, Jayce tries to politely turn the patron down. The patron doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, touching Jayce and moving to grind up against Jayce’s backside. Jayce finally snaps, pushes the patron away shouting “Get the fuck off me, dude!” some patrons take notice and stand around for the show. The patron throws his hands up and steps away, Jayce rushes out of the club. Jayce runs from the bar, but it seems like no matter how far he runs, he can still see those images in his head of those two cowboys eating hot-dogs together, the things he saw in the club flash as he tries to run. He stands up against a lampost to catch his breath.

Katie and Austin are at the auditorium, rehearsing their parts together. They seem to have a genuine good time, they laugh a little, but Katie is looking sickly. Miss Proops has to interfere, “Are you two going Snow White and Prince Charming or are you Katie and Austin pretending to be those characters?” The kids are confused by the question,”Uhm..” Austin says. “Look, just take a break backstage,” Miss Proops says, “Ok, where are my Dwarves at? We’re gonna need you for Scene 6..” Miss Proop’s voice carries on as Austin and Katie walk backstage.

“What the heck was she talking about?” Austin asks, Katie isn’t looking too well. “Are you alright?” Austin asks. Katie shakes her head, “my...blood sugar. Its dropping.” “Oh shoot, hold on.” Austin runs out of the room as Katie sits down. Austin returns with a candy bar from the vending machine, “Here,” he says, handing the candy bar to her, “My brother is a Type-1 too.” Katie smiles, touched by Austin’s caring nature and experience as she takes a bite out of the candy bar.

Edgar takes Linda out for a walk in the park near the nursing home. They sit at a park bench, having lunch by a nearby pond. As they watch ducks and geese around the pond, the fish and turtles swimming around, Linda says “Henry, you promised me you’d give me a family when you got back from the war. That’s the one promise I held you to, and you never came back.”

“I’m sorry, my love. The thought of coming back to you after the war never left my mind,” Edgar said. Edgar pauses for a minute, thinking about his own life, not as Henry, but as Edgar. Its a monologue he was meant to deliver to Katharine. An apology about how he left her and her mother. He talks about how war changed him, he saw a lot of death, and he faced his own death so many times. When he came back, he was treated unfairly for his participation in Vietnam. It weighed on him a lot, his PTSD. At the time, he was only doing what he thought was best for everyone. He hated being angry and hurtful to her and her mother. I went to sleep one day and the next day I woke up, you were a married grown woman, kids of your own. I thought you never needed your daddy to be there anymore, you turned out just fine. That cancer skipped a generation. It wasn’t meant for you. I’m sorry.

He looks at Linda, she had fallen asleep. He smiles and holds her hand.

Thomas is driving Toby to his basketball try-outs. Toby is still unsure about Thomas, who tries to talk to him on the way to the try-out. Toby says he still doesn’t know why his mother sent him for a ride to the try-out. Thomas explains that she got called into work at the last minute. “Hey homie, what do you like to listen to?” Thomas asks. Toby raises an eyebrow, “You did not just call me homie.” “Tupac? Dr. Dre? 50 Cent?” Thomas puts on a rap song, trying to wrap along with the song. He butchers it. Toby looks embarrassed. “Get me outta this car.” the rap song utters the N-word, and Thomas stops for a second, censoring himself from saying it. Toby says, “This is why white people don’t need to rap.” “Even Eminem?” Thomas asks. “Especially Eminem.” Toby says. He stares out the window, a hint of a smile appears on his face, “Man you’re just embarrassing.”

Later on, Sarah and Thomas are picking up Toby from the try-out. Toby is upset, slamming the door of the backseat. Sarah and Thomas exchange a look of silent knowing that it didn’t seem like it went well at all. It only lingers when they get home and Toby stomps to his room. Thomas takes the initiative to follow Toby and ask what happened. After an argument between Toby and Thomas, Toby starts breaking down, talking about his dad and what basketball meant to them. Sarah is standing by outside Toby’s bedroom door, listening to the conversation.

He didn’t make the team, because all he did was think about how he was going to miss seeing his dad cheering him on from the bleachers. “Because your fucking people stole him from me!” He launches his basketball at Thomas, who dodges the ball in time. Thomas tells him he understands he’s angry, and he understands what its like to have someone he loves stolen from him too. He tells Toby that it sucks, its not fair, etc, and gives a speech to Toby about the complexities of death and grief, but anger and blame wont bring peace. He tries to embrace Toby, who at first tries to fight him off, but gives in, knowing deep down that hug was needed.

Austin and Katie are having a rehearsal session at Austin’s house. They decide to rehearse a scene where Snow White and Prince Charming dance together. At first its a little awkward, but they get comfortable and start to dance to slow music. They move around, stumble a bit, but they find comfort in each other, smile, look into each others’ eyes. Katie rests her head on Austin’s shoulder as they continue to dance. Its apparent that they aren’t just playing their parts. The music carries on as we see Thomas is sitting on the couch after that emotional dump with Toby. She sits in Thomas’ lap and they lean in together for a kiss, the kissing leads to Sarah removing her top and showing her bra as their intimacy starts to get spicier, we see Edgar and Linda lay together on the lawn of the nursing home. They play like children, rolling around in the grass and laughing until their lips meet. Jayce sits in his bed, texting Tyler. He starts writing up a message about how he feels about Tyler, saying he loves him. He pauses for a minute, but holds the delete button down as his original message gets erased. He lays his pillow on his head, contemplating if he should sleep on those feelings or say it now.

In the next scene, we see Thomas is trying to help Jayce with driving again. Things do go smoother this time. They have a little bit of father-son bonding where Thomas tries to figure out where Jayce is right now in his life. Jayce questions Thomas about him hanging around Sarah and Toby, accusing him of replacing Jayce’s mother and getting himself the son he’s always wanted. Thomas says its not like that at all, but Jayce doesn’t want to hear it. Thomas says he invited them over for dinner tonight and they’re ALL going to have a good time.

Katie and her drama club class sit, waiting for instructions from Miss Proops. Miss Proops enters, telling the kids there has been a change in plans. She decides to replace Katie with her understudy, Sophia. Katie is shocked, Austin is just as confused. Katie asks what happened and Miss Proops tells her she just isn’t getting the chemistry between her and Austin. “But don’t worry, I have this special part I’m gonna add for you, Katie, so that you can still be involved in the play. She tosses Katie the script, and she finds out her part is small with only one line.

As she suffers alone in her silence while Austin and Sophia rehearse in front of Miss Proops, Katie sadly delivers her one line. Katie is backstage, packing up her stuff. She sees a picture of Miss Proops as a stick figure, sitting on the toilet with stink lines coming off of her. “Miss Poops” are the only words on the paper. Katie looks up and sees Austin nod at her and smile. She gives a half-smile, but she’s still heartbroken from what happened.

Jayce catches up with Tyler at school. Jayce decides to just rip the bandaid off and kiss Tyler. Tyler freaks out, pushes Jayce into the lockers, shoting “Get off me, faggot!” Jayce can’t hold in his feelings anymore and tells Tyler he loves him, finishing it with, “and I know you don’t love me that way, but I can’t help how I feel.” “Stay the fuck away from me, Jayce!” Tyler shouts, storming off, shouting obscenities. Jayce bangs his head up against his locker, with a loud pained scream.

At the nursing home, Edgar and Linda are eating dinner together. “Henry, I think I’m ready for God now.” Edgar lets it sink in, “Well let’s get you looking beautiful when you meet him, my love,” he says.

In the next scene, the dinner with the Millers show Jayce and Katie sitting in silence. Thomas and Sarah try to get them to engage in the conversation. Katie rants about how Miss Proops gave her part to Sophia. Thomas tries to make her feel better by saying “no part in a play is small. You go out there and make that tiny part the biggest part. Thomas and Sarah try to get Jayce to talk, he launches into a tirade where he blurts out that he’s gay. Thomas is stunned. He’s not offended or angry, just caught off guard by this latest discovery. “I’m gay and instead of being happy about it, I lost my best friend because of it.” He stomps out of the room.

Linda is dressed up nice with makeup. She seems happy and at peace. Edgar mentions it was the first time he’s seen her truly happy since she’s known her. They lay in her bed, cuddling together. Edgar kisses her one last time.

The scene fades to the next morning, Edgar wakes up next to the lifeless body of Linda. A somber feeling overcomes him. He puts out a call to the nurses about Linda, as he walks out of the room, nurses flood in. Edgar wipes his eyes.

Its the day of the play: the theater is packed with families, including Thomas, Sarah, Toby and Jayce, who is still in his own feelings. Katie smiles at the sight of her family in the crowd, she turns and sees Austin talking and laughing with Sophia.

As the play goes on, Katie is on stage for her part. She delivers her line, but instead of leaving, she sees her dad smiling at her in the crowd. Katie decides to launch into a rant about how “this sucks! I was supposed to be Snow White until that bitch of a theater director, Miss POOPS ripped the part right away from me!”

“What is she doing?!” Sarah asks Thomas, as the crowd is shocked. Some laugh awkwardly, the kids in the play look at Miss Proops, trying to figure out what to do. Miss Proops tries to call Katie off the stage. Thomas, Sarah, Toby and Jayce join in on the laughter as Katie rips into the whole production.

“And most of all,” she points at Sophia, “Screw YOU Sophia, I’ve seen better acting in porn!”

The crowd erupts in laughter, Austin is seen laughing too. Sophia is embarrassed, Miss Proops is completely distraught.

As the show gets stopped, everyone leaves, still laughing about what they saw. One parent is even heard saying “I’m glad that one ended early. That girl playing Snow White WAS awful.” Katie’s family meets up with her, congratulating her on standing up for herself. Jayce says he’ll get the car and drive them home. Austin catches up to Katie. “Dude...that was freaking Amazing!” Katie smiles, “Thanks, sorry you didn’t get to kiss Sophia.” He shakes his head, “Katie, I never wanted to kiss Sophia.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek after his mother calls for him. She turns around toward the camera, blushing and smiling.

As Edgar sings a somber song for karaoke at the nursing home, we get the last moments of the film. The Millers, with Sarah and Toby are visiting Katharine’s gravestone, no dialogue, just action like Katie leaving some flowers behind. Edgar starts to wrap his song up, and the nursing home residents applaud.

Roll credits.