The Filles Take TIFF!: Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding

Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chace Crawford, Catherine Keener, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Olsen and Nat Wolff. Directed by Bruce Beresford. 96 minutes. 14A

The main reason I wanted to see this film was because of Jane Fonda. And now that I've seen it, the main reason I'd recommend this film is Jane Fonda.

When a conservative lawyer Diane (Catherine Keener) realizes she's about to get divorced, she takes her teenage children (Elizabeth Olsen and Nat Wolff) to visit their hippie grandmother (Fonda) for the first time, who Diane hasn't seen in 20 years herself. Things start out awkwardly then take a turn for the better before getting complicated and messy, all thanks to love.

What makes this a film worth watching above all is the acting. Fonda is believable and lovable as the free-spirited, pot-dealing, war-protesting granny. And while Keener and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who plays a charming fellow hippie) also turn out good performances, it's Olsen and Wolff who really impress. Olsen finds a perfect balance of naivety and maturity and the hilarious Wolff proves to be a potential McLovin in the making.

However, while it's refreshing to see a film so peaceful, positive and pro-love, it also comes off a bit corny and runs into fairytale territory. There is a middle ground buried somewhere; this film just misses it. B

The Filles Take TIFF!: Day 8

A daily documentation what's we've seen, want to see and aren't even trying to see at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

We wish we were seeing:

• THE DAY - A post-apocalyptic film about five surviving banding together to stay alive in the ravaged world. Starring Shawn Ashmore and Lost and Lord of the Rings' Dominic Monaghan. (Because Monaghan knows how to pick 'em.) (11:59 p.m., Ryerson)
• VIOLET AND DAISY - Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan play teenage assassins in a drama penned by the writer of Precious. (6 p.m., Visa Screening Room)

Also playing...

• HYSTERIA - A period drama about the first vibrator. Seriously. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy, this sure-to-be ridic romantic comedy is based on the life story of a true, uh, self-starter. (9:30 p.m, Roy Thomson Hall)
• TAKE SHELTER - The strictly stellar Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, TV's Boardwalk Empire) takes the disaster drama genre by storm with yet another movie-making performance. Also starring the white hot Jessica Chastain. (6 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)

Notes from last night/afternoon:

• PEACE, LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDING was about exactly that. Although the story was very predictable, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Olson and Nat Wolff give some unexpectedly entertaining performances. And if you haven't heard of Wolff yet (ie. if you're not a 10-year-old who watched The Naked Brothers Band on the Family Channel), keep a look-out; he's a McLovin in the making.
• Don't think that just because you pay for a Gala screening, you're going to see any stars to be struck by. At the JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME, world premiere at the Elgin Theatre last night, the stars (Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer) were nowhere to be seen. The Duplass bros (the directors) were there, however, and gave highly enthusiastic As to some not-so-awesome Qs.\
• Speaking of JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME ... The flick may be dubbed a comedy but its got a whole lot of charming drama in it. It can get slacker preachy at points and drags in the middle but it will leave you feeling good. And like you want to watch Signs. (More on that in the review to come.)

The Filles Take TIFF!: Day 7

A daily documentation what's we've seen, want to see and aren't even trying to see at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Photo: Paramount Vantage

We're seeing:

• JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME (Emily) - A comedy from the Duplass brothers (Cyrus, The Puffy Chair) about a day in the life of a slacker, who is played by the always lovable Jason Segel. Even if the rest of the cast wasn't awesome (Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon), I'd be sold. I'll watch anything that could play out like what I imagine life would have been like for a grown-up Nick Andopolis. (9 p.m., Visa Screening Room)
• PEACE, LOVE, AND MISUNDERSTANDING (Michelle) - Shortly following a divorce, a lawyer takes her two teenage children to meet their hippie grandmother, played by Jane Fonda. (11:00 a.m., Visa Screening Room)

We wish we were seeing:

• SLEEPING BEAUTY - A sexual thriller loosely based on the fairytale of the same name, following a college girl who becomes a sex worker of sorts, agreeing to allow clients to do whatever they want to her while she sleeps. (9 p.m., TIFF Bell Lightbox 1)
• LOVELY MOLLY - A new film from the director of The Blair Witch Project? Yeah, I think we might give this spooky house flick a go. (11:59 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)

Also playing...

• TRESPASS - Joel Schumacher directs a orange-tinted sunglasses-wearing Nic Cage and a vampy Nic Kidman in a film about a home invasion that gets flipped on its head by the attacked parties. (9:30 p.m., Roy Thomson Hall)
• STARBUCK - A French Canadian flick about a sperm donor who is forced to meet the 100s of children he fathered for fast cash. (6:30 p.m., Ryerson Theatre)

Notes from last night/afternoon:

• INTRUDERS was a cross between Pan's Labyrinth and The Messengers, thematically (childhood imagination comes face-to-face with supernatural horror) and critically (amazing at times, predictable at others).

The Filles Take TIFF!: Day 6

A daily documentation what's we've seen, want to see and aren't even trying to see at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Photo: Universal Pictures

We're seeing:

• INTRUDERS (Michelle) - From the director and writer of 28 Weeks Later, psychological drama meets horror in this film, as childhood fears of "intruders" rattle a family. (4 p.m., Scotiabank Theatre 1)

We wish we were seeing:

Photo: Paramount Pictures/Indian Paintbrush Productions  

• LIKE CRAZY - A picture-perfect, intense and pure love gets torn apart. (6 p.m., Ryerson)
• ALPS - We've been waiting for it. From the director of Dogtooth comes something even darker: the story of a service that stands in for the dead. (7:30 p.m., Isabel Bader Theatre)
• THE MOTH DIARIES - A teen vampire BFF movie directed by Mary Harron, the director of the awesome American Psycho movie. (10 p.m., Isabel Bader Theatre)

Also playing...

• PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING - Katherine Keener, Jane Fonda and Elisabeth Olsen star in this "heartfelt comedy" about a recently divorced woman who takes her teenage kids on a trip to meet their long lost grandma. From the director of Driving Miss Daisy and Mao's Last Dancer. (6:30 p.m., Roy Thomson Hall)