Gloria Bell

Though I was one of many that viewed this film with great anticipation, it was a profound disappointment.

Gloria Bell, directed by Sebastián Lelio, was a complete waste of time from beginning to end. That will be hard to believe for many of you, given that it starred the super talented Julianne Moore.

But unless you are a supporter of President Trump, it’s hard to dodge the truth. Unless you believe in “alternate facts”, facts are facts at least when it comes to reviewing movies. Here Ms. Moore played a 50-ish divorced LA woman who was trying to recreate her personal life. While you wanted to find a way to admire her spirit, it was all but impossible to do given that her only mode of entertainment was found from attending singles bars where she could down martinis and dance into the night with male strangers.

Quite frankly, the only time you came close to liking Ms. Moore’s character was when she was driving and singing to some great songs in her car. Given that the music was the only thing that made this movie tolerable, that moment quickly disappeared when she left her car to pursue her miserable existence.

That existence included her interaction with her dull son, played by Michael Cera, and her daughter played by Holland Taylor. Mr. Cera had his own marital problems, and Ms. Taylor left her mother in an increased state of angst as she elected to go to Sweden to live with her boyfriend who travelled the world as a surfing expert.

But the film danced in the entertainment gutter when Ms. Moore started a relationship with John Turturro, who she met while spotting him when she was out one evening. He was also divorced, and his seeming kindness gradually disappeared as he was revealed to be a socially confused human being that you grew to hate with a passion.

As referred to above, this was a film that you wanted to succeed. Focusing on a woman in her 50s trying to start a new life, you hoped to watch an appealing adventure. Instead, you were forced to sit through a film that slogged its way through a cinematic swamp that left you shaking your head in disbelief.

The movie makes a mockery of the phrase “chick flick.” The older a female viewer gets in life the more she will be appalled by Gloria Bell.