Lawrence insanely good in dramedy, ‘Die My Love’
Being a mom can be a mother. It’s a fact that’s dawning on the ironically named Grace, a harried, isolated mama with a newborn case of postpartum depression. In the overtly bizarre “Die My Love,” she’s played by a never-better Jennifer Lawrence, literally letting it all hang out in a movie so intense, so in your face, it borders on impenetrable. Yet, it’s darn near impossible to look away, as director-co-writer Lynne Ramsay gets maximum return on her dollar from an actress willing to do just about anything in service of a story that’s as raw with emotion as it is physically challenging.
Based on a novel by Ariana Harwicz, “Die My Love” is very much akin to other “motherhood sucks” endeavors such as “Nightbitch” and “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You,” in which neglected wives find themselves undergoing a difficult transition from carefree young women into enslaved caretakers of needy babies and infantile husbands. And they get no thanks and even less recognition. It’s more “what a woman is supposed to do” than a person sacrificing almost everything she is and ever was to raise a child, basically, all on her own.
It would drive anyone nuts. But it’s been particularly hard on Grace, an aspiring writer whose sanity is quickly evaporating, trapped as she is inside a rundown old house in the middle of nowhere, with no friends, no sex and for long periods, no husband. He’s free to pursue his dream of rock stardom. And when her Jackson looks as handsome as Robert Pattinson, you can bet those condoms in the glovebox aren’t going unused.
Ramsay, no stranger to the macabre, structures her film very much like a horror flick, with a woman alone in a rural cabin, haunted – not by a ghost or supernatural being – but by her own fear of losing every ounce of her identity. Lawrence embraces that concept and has a ball taking Grace deeper and deeper into an abyss of insanity and self-mutilation. More importantly, she enables you to feel what Grace feels as her world crumbles around her.
The nearest she has to an ally is Jackson’s all-knowing mom, Pam. She’s portrayed with great compassion and understanding by Sissy Spacek, an actress incapable of a bad performance. She’s superb here, serving as a kindred spirit aware enough to know when to lend a shoulder and when to give Grace space.
If only Pam’s son possessed even a quarter of that empathy. He doesn’t. If anything, Jackson is embittered by Grace’s penchant for embarrassing him in front of his pals, like when she strips down to her undies in front of everyone at a party and dives into a swimming pool full of mortified children.
Jackson isn’t a role up to Pattinson’s leading-man standards, but you’re awed just the same by his commitment to it, soundly conveying Jackson’s self-awareness in knowing he’s part of the problem, and desperate to understand what’s happening to the fun-loving girl he used to know. Then, clumsily trying to help her deal.
But with what intent, and to whose benefit, his or hers? Still, you wonder why an actor of Pattinson’s caliber is cast in such a minor role. Ditto for Nick Nolte as Jackson’s addled pops, Harry, and LaKeith Stanfield as Karl, the hunky object of Grace’s vivid sexual fantasies. Neither of them is given much to do. Heck, if I remember right, Stanfield doesn’t even rate a line of dialogue.
No matter. This is Lawrence’s show all the way. And she very much treats it as a coming-out party, seamlessly transitioning from playing teens and ingenues into far more complex adult roles. She’s clearly attempting to follow in the Oscar-winning footsteps of her contemporary, Emma Stone. And doing it well. But will audiences be as accepting? She’s not Katniss Everdeen anymore. And “Die My Love” is far removed from “The Hunger Games,” almost detrimentally so.
Ramsay (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”) is a filmmaker incapable of compromise, which is her greatest gift and her biggest liability. She taunts our expectations by taking Grace down increasingly obtuse paths. Then further complicates it by toying with time and structure to the extent you’re as disoriented as Grace. That’s the point, I suppose, but it’s far from audience-friendly. But oh, what a performance she draws from Lawrence. Her Grace is fierce, feral and, yes, funny. And if you’re not careful, she just may bite.
Movie review
Die My Love
Rated: R for language, graphic nudity, sexual content, and some violent content
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek, LaKeith Stanfield and Nick Nolte
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Writers: Lynne Ramsay and Enda Walsh
Runtime: 118 minutes
Where: In theaters Nov. 7
Grade: B-
