“Lovely, Still,” the first film from Omaha’s Nik Fackler, has left town after a week playing in front of cast, crew, family, friends and fans. It won’t likely return until its planned spring release. Local reviews have been predictably favorable and supportive, which Fackler has earned, yet national critics have been somewhat polarized following showings at the 2008 Toronto and 2009 Chicago film festivals.

After the festival screenings, online reviewer Nick Davis described the third act of “Lovely, Still” as “one of the most crudely forced ‘twist’ revelations I can remember” and then went on to grade it a “D.” Matt Dwyer of film.com countered with “the third act is obviously its most poignant … a well-crafted blend of fantasy and reality, memory and delusion” and generally gushed otherwise while Davis groused about the film’s production values.

Who is right here? Actually, both, if they could tone down the extreme. Like the film, each review has its strengths and weaknesses, but the role of critics, especially when they disagree, should be to give the viewer something to think about before and after the film rather than dismiss it or crown it prematurely. A “Citizen Kane,” “Maltese Falcon,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “THX 1138” and “Reservoir Dogs” are extremely rare as first efforts go. What “Lovely, Still” is, is Fackler’s calling card to the next level just as his music videos and shorts got him here.

“Lovely, Still’s” twist has created a buzz because of reviews and word of mouth, much the way “Crying Game,” “Sixth Sense” and “Jacob’s Ladder” did. Yet, surprises work best when they are so integrated that viewers buy in, not only because they accept the premise but because the surprise is foreshadowed, preparing the audience even if only unconsciously. “Lovely, Still” accomplishes this, mostly, though its surprise risks being the center of attention rather than the catalyst as intended.

Seemingly, “Lovely, Still” is the poignant story of an elderly Robert Malone (Martin Landau) who lives alone in a midtown neighborhood and falls in love, for the first time, with Mary (Ellen Burstyn), a widower his age who lives across the street with her daughter (Elizabeth Banks). Robert works at a local grocery store where he spends most of his time stocking, bagging and sketching, and tolerating the wacky sales schemes of his boss, Michael (Adam Scott). Robert and Mary’s tryst doesn’t begin well as he discovers her unexpectedly in his own house after coming home from work. “I noticed the front door was open,” Mary tells him, “and I was checking to see if you were all right.”

Though initially angry at her intrusion, Robert is smitten and further intrigued when she later tells him, “I’ve had my eye on you at the store for some time now … what is it you do there?” From that moment their romance proceeds as fast and exhilarating as the snow-sledding they share and as enchanting as their Old Market carriage ride, one of several wintry wonderland climaxes. Robert can’t quite believe his good fortune. Maybe you won’t either. Maybe you won’t care. After all, the appeal of magic is based on the power of its illusion and one’s willingness to suspend disbelief.

That is true of movies also, and Fackler is an illusionist who blends fantasy and reality with relative ease and style. Undemanding audiences may buy into Robert and Mary’s borderline treacle courtship replete with snowfalls and Christmas lights that appear on cue. Skeptical ones may balk at the same. The former may buy into the film’s sudden turn of events, anxious only to see it again, to see how it was “fooled.” The latter may see the twist only as a contrivance.

Though romance meets a harsh reality by the third act, the love story remains rekindled even if not entirely resolved. More to the point, Fackler has set the stage with enough clues to fill a notebook, some subtle and effective, others less so. What works especially are interior shots of Robert’s relatively empty house that contrast vividly with the film’s exteriors as the romance progresses. He rattles around in his home virtually devoid of photos yet sporting expressionistic paintings of local artist Dan Boylan, particularly a revealing self-portrait Robert is painting late in the film.

Also effective is his institutionalized bedroom and repetitive radio alarm that awakens him with Christmas carols ala “Groundhog Day.” Robert has time, sleep and cognition issues common to growing old, but what this has to do with his past and present are less effectively handled with nightmarish transitional scenes that aren’t dark and forbidding enough. While Fackler’s fantasy mise en scene and Landau and Burstyn’s chemistry works, not even Robert’s odd Christmas present to himself pre-Mary is enough to prepare us for the climax that begins to unravel Christmas Day and later at a neighborhood holiday party.

Ever since Fackler’s earliest short films, such as “7 Minutes,” “C.O.D.” and “Mynoot Loss,” his poetic visual style has been his strength, relying less on dialogue and more on imagery to develop story and theme. Naturally, a feature depends more on acting and script for continuity‘s sake without sacrificing its “look,” but it’s the latter that ironically provides the biggest clue that things are not what they appear to be in this film.

The first two thirds of “Lovely, Still” are slow and deliberate, stagy even, with shots held long, minus much camera movement. In the third act, the film moves more naturally via hand-held cameras and spot-on editing. Either Fackler has discovered his chops during filming or more likely developed a style and technique to match story and tone. The film’s only visual flaw is its obsession with extreme close-ups, especially of Landau and Burstyn, that milk an emotional response. Fackler needs to trust his audience more and back off, letting it find its own way in. Less is still more, and just as lovely.

Five years ago, Fackler said that “Lovely, Still” was not age specific, that its message crossed over all generations. Looking back over his short career, the one constant theme seems to be that a fully realized life can only be had with love and an imagination. His first feature is no exception, yet one eagerly waits for him again to turn his fertile mind and camera on his generation. Perhaps then he too will realize his own potential. “Lovely, Still” got Fackler out of the gate, but the race isn’t about winning or losing as past reviewers have implied. He wants to be in filmmaking for the long haul. As Michael tells Robert in his grocery office, “You can’t fail if you never give up.”

By: Michael Joe Krainak
Issue: November 18, 2009

http://www.omahacityweekly.com/article/2009/11/18/film-grand-illusion