Fabien Constant, who primarily has been making documentary films over the past decade, decided to try his hand at a feature film. The result is "Here and Now," a production that follows listless characters on lifeless journeys through New York City. Even if the film was trying to pass itself off as a travelogue, it would be a long day's journey into blandness.
It's almost a miracle Constant was able to such a project despite having a first-rate cast topped by Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City"). Toss in Simon Baker ("The Mentalist"), Renee Zellweger ("Chicago"), Common ("Selma") and Jacqueline Bisset ("Murder on the Orient Express") and the performers should have been able to bring some life to the story. Despite strong efforts, they fall short. And to make matters worse, the script was written by Laura Eason, whose previous work includes the magnificently written "House of Cards."
The film follows a successful singer/songwriter, Vivienne (Sarah Jessica Parker), after she has been given some life-changing news. Instead of confiding in the numerous people in her life, from her self-centered mother (Bisset) to her deeply caring manager (Common), Vivienne becomes introspective as she wanders around New York like a tourist.
Playing a character who buries their emotions is a complicated task for any actor. Go too deep and what is supposed to come across as introversion ends up looking like someone who is as bored as the audience. Constant's idea of allowing a glimpse into the thoughts racing through Vivienne's mind is nothing more than a series of stops at various locations while Parker looks longingly into space.
The closest she comes to revealing her inner monologue is a look Parker gives that suggests she's deeply puzzled how she could have ended up in such a lackluster production.
"Here and Now" doesn't fall apart easily. Each of the supporting cast members brings their own energy. Bisset is particularly entertaining as Jeanne, who is so wrapped up in her own world she fails to see what is happening to her daughter. But even an actress as good as Bisset can't do anything when her scene partner is so absent and the script is so one-dimensional.
The film could have pushed Parker's character through a long list of emotions as she deals with the news with depression, anger, despair, acceptance and confusion. Instead, Vivienne goes shopping for a dress and talks with an older woman about seeing a whale in the city's harbor. She finds little pleasure in the first and no interest in the second.
There is no pure reason why a documentarian can't make the transition to feature films. What is necessary to make such a metamorphosis is a change of vision. A documentary gets its strength from the subject matter and the imagery to tell the story, while a feature film can have a rather mundane subject matter, but how it's presented to the viewer works only with writing that resonates with honesty, performances from a creative soul and pacing that is in tempo with the tale.
Constant selected a very slow beat for "Here and Now" in line with the subject matter. It's the gaps between them that prove to be the downfall because there's no life to be found. That turns the entire project into a test of endurance.
About the only positive is the original song "Unfollow the Rules," performed by Parker, was co-written by Rufus Wainwright with his daughter Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen. It's a haunting tune that deserved to be presented in a better vessel.
