Sunk deeply into an overstuffed sofa, snuggling under a cozy blanket in front of a warm fire in the fireplace, cold rain falling outside, but inside, holding a mug of tea or cocoa between your hands, and your favorite pet leaning on your leg. That’s how watching I’ll See You in My Dreams was. Gentle. Sweet. Endearing. Comfortable. Not that it was all puppies and kittens and rainbows; recall that cold rain falling outside in my opening, as there too was a cold rain on the backdrop of Carol’s life. But like with nature, in life, that rain is part of it all. And from that rain, growth occurs.
Blythe Danner was perfect in her role as Carol, a woman, probably around age 70, living out her sunset years with pattern and routine. That routine, though, is shattered, and that shake-up is her wake-up to looking at the world with a new lens–or perhaps without the lens of settled-in routine clouding her possibilities.
The supporting girlfriends were delightful: Rhea Perlman, June Squibb, and Mary Kay Place. Yes, you might be thinking, “But all of those ladies are so different from each other.” Yes, they are. But that was part of the charm. When you get to those years and are a single woman, whether from never being married, from death of a spouse, or from divorce, I’ll be realistic in that finding those other single girlfriends might present some limited choices. But the beauty in that is finding amazing things in people who are different from you. And it was refreshing and beautiful to watch as Carol and her friends navigated their lives over games of bridge and golf–and speed dating!—getting the feeling that you were just stopping by for a glimpse into this life they’ve built for and settled into for themselves. Sprinkle in an untraditional friendship with a younger, and a bit wayward, man (no, stop it. it was lovely, not weird in the way it could have been) and a charming budding of a relationship with another retiree, and the film was complete in its presentation of this slice of life–the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens. In all of that, it alternated between feeling like a warm hug and feeling a need to reach out and hug the movie.
My movie companions and I discussed the film afterwards, and we all agreed it was just such a pleasure to watch. We also noted how nice it was that the movie did not feel compelled to get muddled down in the mundane details of issues, leaving the background open enough to let the current metamorphosis of Carol that was playing out be the shining light. We loved the transformation Carol went through, even as rough as parts were, because it spelled out hope and bright outlooks, even in the midst of a life coming ’round third base. It felt honest and genuine, soft-spoken and classy, true and warm.
Grab a dear friend and go see this movie. You might cry a little. You will smile a lot. And you’ll walk away, I hope, as we did, pleased to have experienced this wonderfully sweet film.