From Dark Phoenix to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Kevin Smith and Retta pick the major performances they can't wait to see.
Title: Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)
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Five loosely intertwined stories of the emotional issues facing individual middle-aged Angelenas are presented. In "This Is Dr. Keener", physician Elaine Keener is spending the day taking care of her invalid mother at home on the nurse's day off. Elaine, a scientist, seeks confirmation on what may be a turning point issue in her life by an unconventional means, namely a tarot card reading. Although the news Elaine receives through the reading is a largely accurate assessment of her current life, it is the news about that crossroads issue that takes her somewhat aback. In "Fantasies About Rebecca", thirty-nine year old Rebecca Waynon is outwardly in control of her life, from her job as a bank manager to her personal long term relationship with older Robert. A homeless woman named Nancy who hangs around outside the bank seems to have a clearer picture of what is truly happening with Rebecca than Rebecca herself, as is witnessed by Rebecca's ultimate reaction to an action in dealing with... Written by Huggo
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Some moments in Things You Can Tell Just by Looking At Her are awkward -- but that's because they're real. Like Holly Hunter's character Rebecca sitting in her car with Walter (Matt Craven) the morning after they slept together. Or a young man who speaks frankly and openly to his mother about his sexual experience. Or a loving sister, whose blind sister has just been stood up, hesitant to leave on her own date. What they saw may not always what you expect nor what you want to hear. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing here done for shock value. Why it's awkward is because it's taken from real life. The character of Carmen works like a gimmick, giving these women a thread in which to interweave their lives. It's not needed, because any of these short stories could have worked well on their own as full-length feature films. AS it is, the gimmick creates more questions then it answers because we never truly get to know anything about this women. But perhaps that's the point.
I have to point out one particularly stellar performance from Cameron Diaz. Here she proves what dramatic depth she has as an actress. Although there were many nice performances in this film (Valeria Golino, Noah Fleiss, Holly Hunter and Kathy Baker especially), Ms. Diaz's portrayal of Carol surpassed them all. I would have especially liked to see her story carried on. It saddens me that 1) there's not more films telling the stories of the blind and 2) that Ms. Diaz is not offered more roles like this one.
A warning here, often with realism there are some things that are difficult to watch. Living and caring for an elderly parent or relative is one, abortion is another. Both are subjects well known but not often explored in film. These women are all alone in one way or another with a dependant that hampers their day-to-day activities. I'm not exactly sure if the film maker(s) were trying to present that as a central motif in the lives of women, but it plays true within the context of the film.
Friends of mine who have seen this film have remarked that it was a shame that it never made it to theaters. I, like many others, was early anticipating going to my local Cineplex. But I can see why it never made it. Films like this seem to be fodder only for specialty cable channels (like HBO), which are willing to take the risk to speak about real women's lives.