The Starling

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Starling follows a couple who are experiencing grief in different ways after the loss of their infant daughter. I think some of the core issues surrounding mental health and grief are very profound; not every beat hits well but when it works, it really works. Seeing the distance created in what is a very realistic and loving relationship is actually hard to watch, you can see this pair still care but they can't reconnect. Seeing Lilly pull herself to pieces by trying to connect with her husband, repair her garden, reconcile her feelings for her deceased daughter and try to maintain some semblance of routine. Meanwhile we see the hollowed out fallout for Jack after his attempted suicide and the spectre of blame that hovers over this couple. I am so terribly impressed with seeing how these two are fractured and the difficult journey to reconciliation. The cinematography is a testament to the director's vision behind the film, the wide shots that define this crippling feeling of loneliness were great and overall the way space is captured is really well done. The score for the film really tugs at the heartstrings while I found the soundtrack painted this as an emotional indie drama.

 

Melissa McCarthy, who played Lilly Maynard, is an absolutely wonderful protagonist throughout the feature; I felt McCarthy did an excellent job of portraying a woman struggling with grief and being honest about her own conflicted emotional state. Kevin Kline, who played Dr. Larry Fine, is a real figure of charm and a bit of a reluctant hero; I found Kline's unorthodox vet/therapist role to be such a unique character who really lends a bit of variety to the film. Timothy Olyphant, who played Travis Delp, is the closest thing to an antagonist this film has and is utterly brilliant; Olyphant's passive-aggressive workplace micro-manager is one of the more lively roles in the film. Ravi Kapoor, who played Dr. Manmohan, gives a very convincing medical professional; yet more than this Kapoor gives one of the more insightful deliveries in the film during his final scene with O'Dowd.

However, the best performance came from Chris O'Dowd, who played Jack Maynard. This was a really vulnerable character performance who went through a very difficult journey throughout. O'Dowd plays his role as being very closed off while subtly showing the moments in which Jack is annoyed or close to a breakdown. Watching those gentle,charismatic moments between O'Dowd and McCarthy in the flashbacks was so special. The pair have such undeniable chemistry, and more importantly it is these moments of beautiful love that provide the context for the rest of the film. Watching O'Dowd present hopelessness, self-pity and deep depression is harrowing and extremely real. I think the way in which we see him blame himself constantly is a tough thing to watch. The moments in which we see him grapple with attempting to take his own life again was one of the most confronting moments in the feature. O'Dowd really brings home a lot of the heavy points the film has to offer and I was significantly impressed.

The Starling is a real mixed bag as far as dramatic films go, especially because it makes so many statements around mental health. On one hand, I think the film does present some themes extremely well; but there's another side to this coin. I actually thought there were big chunks of the film in which the statements being made weren't well presented or thoroughly explored. The large conversation about whether or not suicide was a selfish act was extremely naive in its depiction here for starters. I also thought this film decided to use terms like 'giving up' or 'quitting' pretty wildly to discount real struggle characters had experienced. The feature is far from perfect and sometimes starts something only to not really go anywhere with it. There is a large discussion around religions relationship with mental health that is started but never really fleshed out. I also thought the most damning thing about The Starling was the starling itself. The use of this bird and it's relationship with our lead protagonist is such a glaringly simple metaphor that it gets a little tired. Any moment we spend watching characters flail from the bird dive-bombing them is a moment in which the movie dumbs itself down. The special effects for this film are probably my least favourite thing, none of the birds throughout the feature look very real which is a major failing given the focus on the bird.

Daveed Diggs, who played Ben, is quite a stoic figure throughout the feature; Diggs has no room to stretch himself comedically and has no real place for connection with the main cast. Skyler Gisondo, who played Dickie, doesn't serve a lot of purpose within the film; he is often abruptly inserted for a bit of comedy just for the sake of it. Kimberly Quinn, who played Regina, is one of the duller performances in the film; her straight cut portrayal of a healthcare professional is very dry and lacking emotion.

While this film severely stumbles in its second half there is no denying that both McCarthy and O'Dowd give knockout performances throughout. I would give The Starling a 6/10.