![]() The film is at its least self-conscious when operating as a comedy. Between scenes, a panama is swapped for a shrunken beanie. Abbott, too, is a delicious, finely tuned parody sweary, mean, in a relationship but flirtatious, drawn irredeemably to terrible hats. She’s particularly fun to watch as the first Blair, a character who repeatedly and publicly undermines her partner (“He’s always saying how fucked up feminism is”). Yet it’s this that allows her to nail the performance.Īs Blair, the Canadian actor Gadon has remarkable range and comic timing, shifting from defensive and insecure wife to cunning ingenue. At the end of the film, Allison is emotionally and physically spent. There are shades of Gena Rowlands in John Cassavetes’s Opening Night and A Woman Under the Influence. Suspecting an affair between Gabe and Blair, Allison gets drunker and drunker, her ego beginning to derail the shoot. Here, as actor Allison, she’s surprisingly volcanic, set jaw betraying vulnerability, fury and a desperation to please. Of course, she incorporates her signature deadpan, sardonic essence to this emotionally reserved character with an alluring seductive edge, but she also showcases how she can deliver a show-stopping display of a vulnerable, unhinged woman at her limit.Plaza crafted an ingenious, inscrutable, deadpan screen persona in the cult TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, deepening it in the underrated 2017 comedy Ingrid Goes West. Her role as Allison in Black Bear is without a doubt one of her most impressive performances to date. Plaza has been adding many unexpected/experimental projects to her belt and has proven to be an incredible actress who can deliver bone-chilling, dramatic performances. That being said, Aubrey Plaza truly delivers a masterful performance. I find it rather intriguing how actress Aubrey Plaza, who has proven to be somewhat of a cinephile herself (watch the Hiking With Kevin episode where she expresses that Elaine May is her favorite filmmaker and references Cassavetes while holding Kevin Nealon’s selfie stick), now stars in a psychological dramedy that bears the tonal essence of the works of those filmmakers she adores. ![]() Stylistically, it’s a departure from the first half of the film, but it maintains an uncomfortable atmosphere that is bone-chillingly suspenseful. It takes a more comedic approach as you observe the chaotic set from a third-person perspective. The narrative morphs into a dark workplace comedy centered on Allison shooting a movie as Gabe, her director/spouse, manipulates and emotionally abuses her in front of his crew, toying with her emotions as he gets closer to Blair, the script supervisor. ![]() The second half of Black Bear makes an ambitious, pivotal shift that will either get viewers on board or make them drop like flies. The nihilistic Gabe gets under his partner’s skin due to his traditionalist male views while being openly attracted to Allison. Her presence becomes a wedge in the relationship between Gabe and Blair, a couple who are expecting. The first half is a slow-burn erotic drama where Allison, a successful, sardonic director, arrives at a cabin house in the Adirondack Mountains. ![]() ![]() While both take place in a single remote setting and center around an affair amongst three central characters - Allison, Blair, and Gabe - the two narratives are divided into two parts, which are two separate beasts of their own. The lines between inspiration and autobiography blur as the viewer travels through her fragmented mind and we see two separate situations. The film is divided into two parts, both told through the perspective of Allison (Aubrey Plaza), a slick, hot, chic filmmaker who stays at a remote lake house in the midst of writing a new feature. ![]()
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