13/25
The central family is nameless
Tale
A woman gives up her career to become a stay-at-home mom, but her domesticity soon takes a surreal turn. Originally intended to be released directly to streaming on Hulu, the strong reception from test screenings led Searchlight Pictures to give it a wider theatrical release instead. Saturday Night Live: Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (2024) is mentioned. Riding Carousel is a show written by Alexander McCabe. I was invited to a screening and the director’s Q&A. The film is much more artistic and dark than I expected.
She’s now a frustrated stay-at-home mom with a two-year-old
So we’ll simply refer to them as Mom, Dad, and Son for the sake of brevity. The mother is a former artist with a complete MFA. He’s blond; Mom is a redhead and Dad is blonde. This was a real pain in the ass for me. Dad has a big job that involves traveling and goes out once a week. Director Heller is more interested in the magic realism part of the script than giving us details.
But I kept playing Amy Schumer!
I loved the scene with her former classmates, all of which are successful to a certain extent. She could be a fly on the wall in the cafeteria. I enjoyed Mom’s scenes with the dogs a lot. All three of the main dogs seem to physically resemble her friends. Amy Adams is absolutely amazing in the role. I felt like the movie was beneath her.
Who says Hollywood is glamorous?
She should be on a clear Academy Award level, not this experimental madness. Scoot McNairy is good as her hubby. This is one unattractive couple on the big screen. Zoe Chao is a stunning beauty who absolutely steals every second of her screen time as one of her mom’s friends. Mary Holland and Archana Rajan are fun as her other mom friends. Jessica Harper is great as Norma the librarian.
The choice to do it
The director tried to hide the setting, but it was clearly LA. Apparently it was shot there because AA lives there. I didn’t hate the movie, but I was disappointed with Adams. Being the top dog is a big deal. However, this seems like a waste of her talent. I also wanted to look up at the sky and scream afterwards.