I always found acting performances about normal people far more impressive than ones about someone insane. Normal people have worries, memories, and flaws. Those are infinitely harder to embody than craziness, which so often acts as a substitute for actual personality. Marie (Jane Adams), the aging actress living on the shores of Malibu, feels natural, feels real. The people feel so organic that when two characters kiss, it's uncomfortable, like I was invading their privacy or something. What might turn some people off is the fact that nothing concrete actually happens. At first glance it just seems like an actress and her niece doing things around their house. But under the surface it's quite a thoughtful story about the prospect of aging, loneliness, and love, about how most doors close in life -- quietly and unknown to us.
Review of All the Light in the Sky
