Danielle Solzman
Parks and Recreation actress Aubrey Plaza manages to go for a career-best performance in the Sundance-premiering Black Bear.
The lake house-set Black Bear takes us on a wild ride of twists and turns. Don’t worry–the film does deliver on its title by making sure the animal shows up in both parts. There’s no intermission but there is both a part one and part two. By the time that the film finishes, you’re going to need a few minutes or more to let it sink in. There’s something here that writer-director Lawrence Michael Levine is looking to say about the art of filmmaking. It’s just that he manages to deliver on that message with a bit of a thriller.
There are two acts here. The first is one in which a filmmaker (Aubrey Plaza) is looking for a place to draw inspiration. She settles on a lake house owned by the friend of a friend. Living with two other people–Blair (Sarah Gadon) and Gabe (Christopher Abbot)–leads to some fights as everyone gets to know each other. Through the creative process, one of those fights manages to be re-enacted but the roles are reversed.
The film takes advantage of the lake house by also using as little sets as possible. It’s a beautiful house that–no surprise–features a lot of bears in its decorations. And yet, it’s also hard to imagine the film taking place in any other lake house. The house is the perfect house for this film! Well, aside from the fact that the house’s windows and a limited budget means mostly taking place at night. The night scenes certainly manage to give the film a vibe that’s much different than if scenes took place during the daytime.
Stepping away from the film’s confusing plot for a moment (it does get a bit confusing at the end of the first part), Aubrey Plaza displays remarkable growth in terms of her range as an actress. Most of us generally know the actress from comedies such as Parks and Recreation and Funny People. Safety Not Guaranteed was one of her first forays into dramedies and it’s become one of those movies that paid off for her career. No matter what one thinks about the plot, Plaza is on command as an emotionally complex woman in Black Bear.
While Black Bear features a commanding performance from Plaza, it’s an independent film that might have trouble finding an audience. In a changing cinema landscape, it’s almost certain that the film will find its audience on Digital/VOD.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Lawrence Michael Levine
CAST: Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon, Paola Lázaro, Grantham Coleman
