Nightbitch is one of those movies from the moment you see the trailers you could tell it’s probably not going to be as good as it thinks it is. I hate to use the word “pretentious” a lot, but this is that type of movie.
I haven’t read the book by the same name by Rachel Yoder, which is her debut novel. I’m sure in the written word, it might have worked better. But maybe the reason Bill Waterston never let anyone make a cartoon or movie on Calvin & Hobbes, is that it’s hard to do adaptation. After the problems on the production of Sliver, Joe Eszterhas swore never to do an adaptation again.
Also, this movie has kinda been made before in 2018 when it was called Tully and starred Charlize Theron, Ron Livingston and Mackenzie Davis, directed by Jason Reitman on a script by Diablo Cody. Here Amy Adams takes a page from Theron’s playbook by gaining some extra pound, even though many women will say she looks average, as an unnamed character just referred to as Mother. Scoot McNairy plays her husband, who is only reffered to as Husband in the credits and they have a son (Arleigh and Emmett Snowden). This is already the type of idiosyncratic thing a writer will do in their first published novel.
Mother halted her career as an artist to be a stay-at-home mother as her husband is constantly away on work trips. The movie follows a lot of what Tully did with Mother feeling overwhelmed, but it doesn’t have the same bite that movie did. There was a bit of truth, humor and confusion in Tully when Theron and Livingston’ married couple take the opportunity of a quiet night for her to go to sleep earlier as he plays video games. At one point in your marriage, you start to value other cherished moments you’ve taken for granted. McNairy plays the weaponized incompetence almost like parody as Livingston had a little bit of gullibility to his role. Mother begins to think she’s just suffering from perimenopause but she soon begins to suspect she is turning into a dog.
But is she? The movie never really hints if she is or maybe have a breakdown. Instead, it just thinks that repeated killings of cats is funny. Adams gives it her all in the role. But I wish she would quit trying to show us she’s a real actress and not the young pretty face she was often given in her earlier roles in the 2000s. Even though it is overlooked by the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, her role in The Master got to the heart of the role as a woman expected to fit a role in a male-dominated society but wanting to break free. Adams showed in that role that she even though she may not be totally happy, she’s going to make the best of it.
Here, she just seems to scrape the surface. Mainly it’s because writer/director Marielle Heller can’t really get to the root of the story. Pardon the pun, but it has more bark than bite. When Mother finally confronts her husband and lashes out, it feels less like it’s pertinent to the story and more like it’s suitable for a drama class. Maybe it’s because McNairy is so much on the peripheral of the plot, he becomes more of a caricature.
Sadly, this is a shaggy dog story. You’re expecting a lot more but in the end, you’ll be disappointed. It’s probably telling this was originally set to be released just on Hulu but it was then given a limited theatrical release only to get mixed reviews and a lackluster return at the box office.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 