Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
May December has an outstanding premise for a movie, but a solid idea doesn’t necessarily mean a solid final product. The movie still needs a director to lead the crew along the right roads and actors to supply the necessary horsepower to reach the final destination. Thankfully for audiences who love uneasy dramas with compelling characters, May December comes through with all the necessary ingredients.
“Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.”
Director: Todd Haynes
Writers: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
Starring: Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, Juliane Moore
Release Date: December 1, 2023
IMDB
May December (2023) has an outstanding premise for a movie, but a solid idea doesn’t necessarily mean a solid final product. The movie still needs a director to lead the crew along the right roads and actors to supply the necessary horsepower to reach the final destination. Thankfully for audiences who love uneasy dramas with compelling characters, May December comes through with all the necessary ingredients.
May December draws inspiration from the life of Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who began a relationship with a sixth grade student Vili Fualaau and eventually married him. The truth-is-stranger-than-fiction scandal came to light in February 1997 and the soap opera-esq drama unfolded for seven years. Mary Kay spent years in prison and gave birth to two children to whom Fualaau is the very young father. The two eventually tied the knot in 2004 and stayed together for about 13 years before Fualaau filed for divorce which finally came to fruition in 2019.
Writers Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik take this premise and weave in symbolic themes with alterations to the true-to-life headlines. May December begins with Gracie (Juliane Moore) and Joe Yoo (Charles Melton) married and parenting a family of adolescent kids. The major drama of their initial coupling has passed, but threads of their tabloid chronicled relationship are draped throughout their everyday life.
The loose strings begin to be pulled harsher when the spotlight arrives in the form of actress Elizabeth (Natalie Portman). The dramatic and snake-like independent film actress enters Gracie and Joe’s home to study for an upcoming film that’s set to depict their origin story. Elizabeth is portraying Gracie, and she fully dedicates herself to mimicking her muse. As Elizabeth spends more time with Gracie, the hidden horror of May December begins to shine through the sheen of happiness that’s shown to the outside world.
May December is an acting clinic with Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton melting the faces while transgressing an uptight queasy love triangle. All three actors were worthy of Academy consideration but it’s the newcomer and youngest of the bunch that has the best chance to take home the gold.
The victim of May December and character tossed most in the emotional blender is Joe. The adult man in body is nothing more than a high school boy mentally because of the emotional stunting that Gracie stapled into his psyche. It is not natural to have your perception of love warped by a woman so many years your senior. It is not natural to have so many of life’s landmarks tainted by a publicly persecuted relationship.
Melton sticks out among the three main actors because his performance is not…how do I put this…it is not over-the-top. Melton is quiet, sulking, and an observer. He is the comforter for Gracie when she needs him, and he has to deal with many of his own emotions himself. Joe connects with Elizabeth and becomes fond of her because she is asking questions about him, granted those questions are a bit self-serving.
The scene with Joe Yoo that sticks in the crawls of the viewer comes after he and Elizbaeth have sex. What Joe does after his adulterous action is so eerily high school-sh it’ll make you cringe. The way he acts after the act and the bond he thinks he has with Elizabeth is 25 times the strength compared to what Elizabeth feels for him. Portman’s portrayed coldness clashing with Melton’s warming youthful bliss in that post coital moment is like an awkward silver bullet enough to cripple any non-empathetic thoughts about Joe.
Melton’s quiet role is like that of a great point, dishing out the table-setting platform for his co-stars to amp it up. Melton is the fulcrum for May December, dictating the mood of the audience even if no one actually knows it’s happening.
Gracie, played by Julianne Moore, who is the older wooer, worked at a pet store when she first began her relationship with Joe. Changing the occupation from teacher to pet store worker works for May December because she as a partner is keeping her other half on a leash. Joe’s freedom is hindered by his need to be around her at all times just in case she has one of her breakdowns where his affection is one of her remedies. Joe also doesn’t have a true sense of self, for she stripped that away from him when she and he first got romantically linked.
Moore’s best moments come when she is sharing the screen with Natalie Portman. Gracie is putting on a sort of act towards all those she knows because she knows that eyes are always on her, and now she has the watchful eye of a true actress who is looking to mimic her study to get paying audience’s approval. The meta battle between the two is fought with sharp words, incisive questions and untrustworthiness. It is a sort of game between Elizabeth and Gracie, and each has a joker in their hand.
Gracie’s secret is that we have no idea when she is telling the truth. She is an unfaithful narrator of her own story because she herself is unwell and doesn’t know herself anymore. Elizabeth’s hidden piece is her relationship with Joe, which she cleverly manipulates knowing her power as an alluring beautiful actress. There are moments in May December where her interest in Joe seems genuine, but the more you come to understand Elizabeth, the more you lean towards the fact that she is doing this to better understand Gracie; she wants to experience the same youthful eyes and energy that captivated her. It is like an undercover homework assignment.
There is a part of Portman’s performance that I can’t get out of my head, and I heard it on another podcast but I can’t remember which one. To a random smarter person than I, I apologize.
The Daniel Day Lewis approach Elizabeth is taking toward portraying Gracie is a bit commentary on the fact that many view Portman as not a great actress, but there is a massive irony because she is doing a phenomenal job playing a cheesy bad actress in May December, There is a little bit of self awareness in this role for Portman and she leans into the turns at full velocity.
May December is a great premise for a movie, and credit goes to director Todd Haynes for framing its story in a way where the performers get a chance to flex their muscles. There are a few visually impressive moments, two of which come with characters staring directly into the audience’s soul. The movie poses the uneasy question of how we would react if we knew of a relationship like this. Where would our sympathies fall and how would we act around those who don’t know how to properly act themselves?
If you want to see a for-sure Best Supporting Actor nominee (he wasn’t nominated which is a shame) shine brightest alongside a pair of Award performances, you best check it May December. Melton has already been a nominee at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Gloves. See why by streaming May December on Netflix.
STANKO RATING: B+
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