There are only so many stories, so they say, and movies recycle them at an amazing rate. But good movies aren't always about new stories. Sometimes they're simply an old story told well.
There's little new territory plowed in "Unhook the Stars," about a lonely widow who befriends an uncouth young woman and becomes a grandmother figure to her 6-year-old son. But co-writer/director Nick Cassavetes conveys a warmth and easygoing style that are rare in American cinema these days, and he's assembled a first-rate cast to help him give this familiar yarn a compelling spin.
Topping the cast is Cassavetes' mother, the remarkable Gena Rowlands, playing a more stable character than usual. She is down-to-earth, sensible Mildred, a middle-aged widow with two adult children, her snippy, ungrateful daughter Ann Mary Margaret (Moira Kelly), who lives at home as the film begins, and her married son Ethan (David Sherrill), who is a bit distant.
When Ann Mary Margaret moves out in an angry huff and Ethan announces he's moving to San Francisco, Mildred is truly alone for the first time.
Soon, she meets her neighbor Monica (Marisa Tomei), a foul-mouthed, uneducated woman with a young son named J.J. (Jake Lloyd) and an abusive husband, Frankie (David Thornton). When Frankie leaves Monica, she has no baby sitter while she works. So she dumps J.J. on Mildred, and before long a strong bond has formed among the trio.
To the credit of Cassavetes and co-writer Helen Caldwell, the film never gets mawkish or doesn't rely on the usual movie contrivances. Though it doesn't wander too far afield from its basic story line, there are a few unexpected twists — making this one a bit more realistic than most movies of this ilk.
What's more, everyone is given an opportunity to grow. Even a minor character like Frankie changes by the film's end. If he hasn't exactly seen the error of his ways, he at least wants to try and make his marriage work.
Along the way, as Mildred and Monica build a tenuous friendship, they both get tastes of each other's lives — most prominently when Monica takes Mildred to a local bar and she meets truck driver Big Tommy (Gerard Depardieu) and when Monica crashes Mildred's Thanksgiving dinner.
The actors have a field day with this, including young Lloyd in his first film. But rising above them all is Rowlands, whose natural warmth and radiant glow at times carry the movie solo.
The only drawback here is the constant profanity and vulgarity, primarily from Monica. Cassavetes no doubt felt this was necessary to convey the vast difference between Monica and Mildred, but after awhile it wears out its welcome.
"Unhook the Stars" is rated R for profanity and vulgarity, and there is some (mostly implied) violence between Frankie and Monica.