The Quitter

I saw The Quitter last night on PBS. Matthew & Julianna Bonifacio wore almost all the hats in realizing this 2014 indie (including playing the lead characters, Jonathan and Georgie). Jonathan was a major league baseball player who walked away from his career and from Georgie and their baby girl. When Jonathan and Georgie meet again back in New York 7 years later they try to stitch together some kind of relationship mainly for the sake and the love of their now 8-year old Luka. Like many an actor with Mediterranean in his marrow (Pacino is an obvious example) Matthew acts with his fried-egg eyes and nails you every time with those big, unblinking gapers.

I wish that Matthew, who also wrote the movie, had helped us better understand Jonathan's costly self-doubt. We know it has a lot to with an unforgivably insensitive,angry father but...we need to see more. Nevertheless, Matthew's essential insight about Jonathan and Georgie is bang on: for them what matters is that the modus vivendi they've put together holds: painfully,imperfectly but holding.