Diane

Mary Kay Place (The Big Chill) gets the role of a lifetime as the titular character, a widowed boomer who, it seems at first, lives entirely for others. Diane volunteers at a soup kitchen, makes frequent visits to her gravely ill cousin (Deirdre O’Connell) and is always ready to do favours for her friends should they be in need. Above all, she’s dedicated to her drug-addicted son Brian (Jake Lacy), despite all the exasperation that entails. Of course, almost no one is as generous as she at first appears to be, and over the course of the movie we come around to a greater understanding of her impulses.

Writer-director Kent Jones (Late Fame; Hitchcock/Truffaut) shows a superbly nuanced understanding of character. His protagonist is no more and no less than a good person who has done bad things; a lesser artist might build her up as a saint only to dash our hopes, but in his hands the dark past only enhances our sense of her humanity. As written, as directed and as acted by the superb Place, Diane is a complex, troubled, contradictory woman — and all the more beautiful for that.

Talking Pictures is a monthly matinee series catering to the 55+ community. Patrons are encouraged to stay and chat about the movie and enjoy coffee and cookies on the house. Tickets are only $12, or two for $20.

A tender, wrenching, and beautifully made movie… intensely enjoyable and alive.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Quiet and profound.

Christian Gallichio, The Playlist