I’ll Be Right There
On an average day, Wanda (Edie Falco) will take her mother, Grace (Jeannie Berlin, "The Heartbreak Kid"), to the doctor’s, calm her pregnant daughter Sarah’s (Kayli Carter, "Let Him Go") anxieties in a hospital lobby, arrive late to her son Mark’s (Charlie Tahan, "The Pale Blue Eye") therapy session and return the child’s bicycle he used to get there to his upstairs neighbor all before doing the accounting for the small town businesses she visits after hours. Her boyfriend Marshall (Michael Rapaport) and new flame Sophie (Sepideh Moafi, "The Killing of Two Lovers") both dread the constant interruption of phone calls she responds to with “I’ll Be Right There.”
Laura's Review: B-
When her ‘Nurse Jackie’ director Brendan Walsh contacted her during pandemic lockdown with an idea for an indie film, Edie Falco responded with writer Jim Beggarly’s ("The Kitchen") script and a project was born, given immense personality when Walsh found the perfect town to set it in in Pearl River, New York. If at first Wanda appears to be a doormat, guess again as “I’ll Be Right There” has something refreshingly different to say, albeit with sitcom style execution.
Falco and Berlin make a great comedic pairing and their opening scene manages to make a cancer diagnosis funny without making light of it. Her two adult children, on the other hand, take some getting used to. Mark is a former addict who is still a screw up while eight-month pregnant Sarah’s dreams of a white wedding fluctuate hourly, giving the baby’s father, Eugene (Jack Mulhern, “The Boys in the Boat”), whiplash. And when their dad Henry (Bradley Whitford) arrives with his second marriage’s four kids in tow to renege on his promise to pay for half of the wedding, he stumbles upon Wanda in bed with her new lover, Sophie. Just what will Marshall say, asks Henry, while admiring Sophie’s departing backside as Wanda searches for a new solution. And then there’s Albert (Michael Beach, TV's 'Mayor of Kingstown'), the firefighter whose kid’s bike Mark borrowed now trying to bake for her school event and failing, a charming effort Wanda cannot resist pitching in on.
Walsh located a gem in Pearl River, a real Everytown, USA where Wanda’s house symbolically sits on a steep hill. He’s also struck gold with Falco and Berlin, whose mother and daughter routine is naturally funny (Berlin’s family stories, and how she tells them, are priceless). But the children are difficult to care about and Mark’s situation is resolved too easily while Sarah’s resolution is clichéd. While it’s nice to see Rapaport on screen, Marshall is underwritten and Moafi is more plot point than character. Whitford sparks with Falco as affectionately knowing exes. Beach’s meet cute with Falco promises an encore we easily see coming.
“I’ll Be Right There” is a nice vehicle for Falco, a character study of a woman being pushed to want more who’s quite happy with what she already has.
Robin's Review: C+
Wanda (Edie Falco), has been solving family problems for years, but not her own. Her son, Mark (Charlie Tahan), is an addict, in therapy and a chronic liar. Daughter Sarah (Kayli Carter) is eight months pregnant, unwed and demands a church wedding. And, her ex, Henry (Bradley Whitford), is remarried and shirks his fiscal obligations to Wanda. Life is normal for the woman who always says “I’ll Be Right There.”
First off, Edie Falco is the true center and anchor for this story about the ultimate snowplow mother. Wanda, even though her two kids are now adults, is always there, no matter what problems her children have. And, she is happy to have the constant intrusions and controversies all around her – as long as her children depend on her. Falco does an expert character study of that mom.
Now, the problems. Aside from three side characters – all men – who are all nice guys, no one in the principle cast are likable, except for Wanda (and, maybe, her mom (Jeannie Berlin). Her children are selfish, snotty and expect their mother to go through hoops for them – and do not understand the burden they impose, probably because Wanda never told them “no.” Ever. Her ex husband is also a selfish jerk more interested in his classic car than he is in his own children.
Unfortunately, watching Wanda’s life is akin to watching a car crash – there is nothing you can do about it but you cannot take your eyes off of it. She moves from one child’s crisis to another and it is so overwhelming, it feels artificial, as if the screenwriter, Ed Beggarly, sat around concocting crises.
The redeeming characters, all men as I said, are background only but, when compared to the selfish main players, are like a breath of fresh air to the proceedings. The movie, though, belongs to Falco, but I wanted to slap some sense into Wanda to wake up and smell the coffee.
Brainstorm Media releases "I'll Be Right There" in select theaters on 9/6/24. It will be available on VOD on 9/27/24. Click here for available theaters.
