Unsteady ‘Find Me Falling’ plunges over the edge
It’s fitting that much of the Netflix rom-com “Find Me Falling” unfolds at the edge of a cliff where it teeters between maintaining the high ground and crashing to the rocks below. The same can be said for its velvety-voiced leading man, Harry Connick Jr., portraying a fading rock star fleeing the spotlight to the picturesque sanctuary of Cyprus.
Connick has the charm thing down pat, but his appeal is often diminished by an acting range so narrow you have to wonder why Cypriot writer-director Stelana Kliris sought to cast him. True, the part calls for a gifted singer, but aren’t there other middle-aged crooners with better acting chops? How about Hugh Jackman for starters?
The impediment for Connick is that the role of expatriate John Allman is tailored for a thespian more than a vocalist. And no amount of breathtaking Cyprian scenery can conceal the fact that he’s out of his depth in a movie that is anything but light and breezy.
His miscasting is most evident when Kliris’ script references such topics as dishonesty, parental responsibility and, gulp, suicide. Yes, suicide! And it’s often jaw-droppingly played for laughs because the prime location for offing yourself in this seaside community is the towering cliff just beyond the backdoor of John’s rustic cottage.
You cringe whenever a scene requires John to talk yet another potential victim off the precipice. More so when he ponders whether these desperate souls are “jumping” or “falling,” establishing a metaphor for how John and his fellow townsfolk approach romance: do you jump or do you fall? Is there a difference? And to echo Sia, who cares?
In actuality, it’s more like being shoved, given how strenuously Kliris forces her characters to tackle unnecessarily arduous obstacles on their predictable path to “happiness.” They include John and his old flame, Sia (Agni Scott), the local physician with a twenty-something daughter she raised alone. The father? Well, that’s a closely guarded secret Sia has harbored for more than 20 years. “A passing tourist,” she replies whenever anyone dares ask.
Three guesses at who this mysterious daddy might be, and the first two don’t count. Yes, that’s how far “Find Me Falling” is willing to go in manufacturing conflicts to be resolved in Act III.
(Spoiler alert)
For John, it’s his resentment toward Sia for waiting decades to tell him he’s the father of Melina (the golden-throated Ali Fumiko Whitney). And for Sia, it’s John’s compulsion to publicly humiliate her in front of her friends and family. That includes Melina, who is pissed at both of them, especially after realizing she’s been casually flirting – not with the hunky rock star who rode to fame on his iconic hit “Girl on the Beach” – but her father. Ick!
(End spoiler)
Casting that aside – as well as a troupe of eccentric supporting players like John’s new best bud, police Capt. Manoli (Tony Demetriou), and Melina’s deadpan Yaya (Aggeliki Filippidou, channeling Olympia Dukakis’ Rose from “Moonstruck”) – “Find Me Falling” has a lot going for it, including an enchantment factor that’s through the roof. Not only do the characters create palpable chemistry, but Kliris generates an indelible sense of place, rendering her native Cyprus (it was shot in Peyia and Nicosia) as a thick slice of heaven. Equally engaging is the music, some of which is penned and performed by Connick, including the irresistibly catchy title tune.
That’s why it’s frustrating when Kliris ignores her better instincts and dumbs it all down with a collection of corny rom-com tropes, including a group serenade performed outside Sia’s window designed to help John win her back. Then there’s the whole suicide thread. Why did Kliris think it a good idea to put a comedic spin on such a devastating act? And then make it a running “gag” that – metaphor or not – should never have found its way into the final cut.
The result is a film I really, truly wanted to like. Perhaps it might have been more satisfying with someone like Jackman in the lead, but we’ll never know. Ditto for the last minute replacement of Mira Sorvino with Scott. What I do know is that it’s ultimately a film with far too much baggage to chance taking a leap.
Movie review
Find Me Falling
Rated: Not rated
Cast: Harry Connick Jr., Agni Scott, Ali Fumiko Whitney and Tony Demetriou
Director: Stelana Kliris
Writer: Stelana Kliris
Runtime: 93 minutes
Where: On Netflix beginning July 19
Grade: C
