Screenwriter Alex Ross Perry (The Color Wheel, Queen of Earth) keeps his acidic wit in check for this ensemble drama about love, loss, and people’s connection to objects. The novelistic structure begins with one character, then branches off to focus on a minor character from the previous story, and so on; among them are a philosophical insurance claims investigator (John Ortiz), an elderly woman who loses her home in a fire (Ellen Burstyn), a smug dealer of baseball memorabilia (Jon Hamm), and the dealer’s earthy sister (Catherine Keener). Perry’s dialogue is literate and perceptive as always, and the actors here deliver it nicely, but there’s little sense of dramatic development and the somber mood quickly grows monotonous.
Nostalgia
R • 1 hour 54 min • 2018
