If you had any doubts about Jenny Slate, if you ever thought she was a trivial comedian whose only talent lay in wacky faces and nasal impersonations, this film will set them to rest. Although the title presumes a male protagonist and refers to his male sibling, this is a deeply feminine film (written and directed by a woman) and Slate's Rose is her brilliant avatar, full of all of the doubts, the striving successes and blunt failures of modern womanhood. Rose is worried she's a slut, worried she's a bad person, worried she can't follow her heart or her instincts. She works through all of the heaped-up anxiety to do the right thing, stumbling now and then and never really overcoming a condition that still plagues women in our society. Throughout the film, she tells us she can't trust her feelings; in a climactic scene she confronts the fact that she's not really in love with her boyfriend with the line "But who am I to decide?" Slate carries this off, makes us feel the void of being a woman in what is still a man's world, with an Oscar-worthy performance.
The film itself is short, engaging, maybe a tiny bit predictable but ultimately leaves you with a smile. I saw it months ago at Tribeca, and I just can't get Slate's performance out of my head.
The film itself is short, engaging, maybe a tiny bit predictable but ultimately leaves you with a smile. I saw it months ago at Tribeca, and I just can't get Slate's performance out of my head.