Tim Meadows is one of the most underrated “Saturday Night Live” cast members and it’s unfortunate he never became a more prominent comedic film star. His highlight is “The Ladies Man” (2000) and it, too, is underrated. Granted, ribald sex comedies are a niche taste, but you don’t feel icky cheering for Meadows, who generates genuinely oblivious sincerity as a talk show host who likes to fool around. The plot’s middle-of-the-road compass reins in the raunch to appropriate levels. Plus, there’s a Julianne Moore cameo and vengeful husband Will Ferrell provides an out-of-nowhere musical number inspired by “West Side Story.”
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Hiding behind owly glasses, Julianne Moore pulls off a perfect Diane Keaton impersonation in “Gloria Bell” (2019). Gloria’s a middle-aged divorcee, living a seemingly full life. Yet there’s an emptiness, as if she’s stuffing life with busyness because there’s no single thing that challenges her. Oh boy, she finds it one night while out disco dancing. Brooding Arnold (John Turturro), who says he, too, is divorced, but suffers from needy millennial daughters. Arnold and Gloria are on and off and on again, as the movie’s momentum goes down the drain, like all those years middle-aged divorcees wish they had back.
It’s one of those movies with a bunch of seemingly unrelated story lines that somehow are supposed to come together. It’s one of those movies with an eclectic ensemble of veteran stars (Jack Lemmon!), up-and-comers (Julianne Moore!) and WTFs (Huey Lewis?). It’s one of those Robert Altman movies. So you know all the critics and artsy-fartsy types loved “Short Cuts” (1993). I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Twenty-two major characters, and not a one of them is likeable. They’re all somewhere on a continuum from pathetic to despicable. I get it, Robert. Life in L.A. sucks. Your point?
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