I’ve been an Edie Falco fan since I first saw her in gay filmmaker Eric Mendelsohn’s 1999 feature “Judy Berlin,” which Falco followed with several years on “The Sopranos,” and the career high point (pun intended), “Nurse Jackie.”
In “I’ll Be Right There” (Universal/Brainstorm), Falco plays Wanda, a woman who is there for everyone but herself. As the comforter-in-chief, she accompanies her gambling addicted mother Grace (Jeannie Berlin) to a doctor’s appointment where she receives a serious diagnosis, albeit one less detrimental than expected. From there she rushes to the emergency room where her pregnant and unwed (although engaged) daughter Sarah (Kayli Carter) is having a crisis that eventually resolves itself. After that, she arrives late to a therapy appointment with her drug addicted son Mark (Charlie Tahan) whose therapist has decided to end their sessions because Mark has been lying to him the whole time.
But wait, there’s more! Divorced from Henry (Bradley Whitford), Wanda is in a relationship with bar-owner Marshall (a restrained Michael Rapaport). She is also having an affair with literature professor Sophie (Sepideh Moafi), which brings her a certain sexual satisfaction. Unfortunately, Wanda begins to realize that Sophie’s compartmentalizing of their relationship might mean that she’s ashamed to be seen with Wanda, whose townie ways might make her stand out among her more educated friends.
It's a wonder that Wanda can get her bookkeeping work done, most of which takes place after hours, when those family members who constantly call her, are fast asleep. But everything soon begins to unravel. Remarried Henry has three young children and won’t be able to pay his share for Sarah’s big church wedding. Sarah is unwilling to budge on that subject. Meanwhile, Mark is arrested for breaking and entering. As a means of dealing with his situation, he enlists in the army after he is released from jail.
The one ray of light in Wanda’s life (something to watch for at the conclusion) is Albert (Michael Beach), a former classmate who is also Mark’s upstairs neighbor. The same gender relationship feels borderline gratuitous, although the response from Sarah and Grace, and even Marshall, is far less insulting than that of Henry’s.
“I’ll Be Right There” is the kind of multi-character family comedy/drama that Nancy Meyers perfected in the early 2000s with “Something’s Gotta Give” and “It’s Complicated.” Having a riveting performing such as Falco as the focus elevates the movie and prevents it from going off the rails.
Rating: B-
