One of the loveliest things about our recently instituted Pie + Fortune movie night is getting the chance to revisit all the films over the years we’ve been meaning to watch but have yet to check out.
On my laundry list of future selections was Take This Waltz. Popping into my consciousness every few months, I've had it waiting for me on my trusty Netflix instant queue for ages. I absolutely adore Seth Rogen, so I was eager to see him in a less comedic role, and Sarah Polley, the feature's writer and director, is another longtime favorite.
Visiting an old friend recently for an impromptu day in her pool, she mentioned an amazing movie she had just seen that was still with her days later. We quickly put two and two together and decided to reconvene in front of the TV for her second viewing and my first.
Now I, days later, am, too, still thinking about this treasure. The tale follows Margot, a happily married writer, who has a chance encounter with her artist neighbor, Daniel, that makes her reevaluate her life and marriage.
There are so many things I loved about Polley's story - visually, it's stunning and curiously directed. One scene, for example, is a continuous 360 degree shot, circling over and over in a time lapse that spans a year or so in Margot's life after her fateful decision.
The outfits, too, are sweetly perfect; Williams wears so many gorgeous sundresses and vintage finds that each time she came on screen my friend and I would exclaim 'I want that!!!'
But, putting aside superficialities, this movie just plain hit me in the gut. I identified, in a sense, with Margot - not with her love triangle and the choice she had to make, but with her underlying struggles within herself that cause her to be in that situation in the first place. She is sometimes needy, sometimes overjoyed with life. The happiness, though, always fades...there is a void, there, in her, in life...will she ever be happy? Can she ever be happy?
I think Sarah Silverman's character, Margot's recovering alcoholic sister-in-law, has the best answer yet:
"Life has a gap in it. It just does. You don't try to fill it like a lunatic."
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