“Meeting Marsha”
(USA)
Screened at the 44th Reeling Chicago International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (1/5)
Letterboxd (1/5), Imdb.com (2/10), TMDB.com (2/10), Imdb.com critics review
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At the risk of sounding like a broken record, comedies that try too hard are a real chore to endure. And such is the case with this debut feature from writer-director McKenzie Goodwin, a farce that falls far short of the mark. When aspiring actress-writer Lily Deering (Lindsay Arnold) is asked to house-sit the residence of a friend, a high-powered Hollywood mover and shaker, she plans to turn the weekend getaway into a romantic escape for her and her girlfriend, Jordan (Lizzy McGroder), a hyper-ambitious stand-up comedian/performance artist. In fact, Lily secretly wants to avail herself of this opportunity to spring a surprise marriage proposal on her partner. But, just as she’s about to pour out her heart, she’s interrupted by an unexpected phone call from her birth mother, Marsha Davis (Elaine Hendrix), who Lily, as an adopted child, has never met. Marsha, a former sitcom star, says she’s in town for a funeral and suggests getting together with her for a long-overdue face-to-face. Lily is somewhat frustrated that such a meeting would delay her romantic agenda, but she’s also thrilled about finally fulfilling a long-held dream. Jordan, meanwhile, is also excited when she learns that her girlfriend’s mom is one of her professional idols, hoping that perhaps Marsha can help her to boost her career. But what starts out as a seemingly civil, reasonable social gathering quickly goes south when a series of supposedly zany events unfold, developments that reveal everything is not what it appears to be, both with Marsha and the ostensibly devoted couple. The surfacing of deep dark secrets by all concerned throws circumstances into chaos as the alleged wackiness ensues. The problem here, however, is that these supposedly humorous faux pas aren’t the least bit funny, a bona fide death knell for a comedy (if I laughed once during the film, it would have been a lot). Blame the anemic narrative, issue-ridden screenplay and overwrought character development for this, as they all leave much to be desired. Indeed, the premise here could have made for a truly sidesplitting romp, but viewers are instead left with a string of lame bits that simply overexert themselves in an attempt to generate forced chuckles. Thankfully, the picture’s saving grace is its mercifully short 1:24.00 runtime (though there are moments when it genuinely seems longer than that). Regrettably, “Meeting Marsha” is a definite letdown, a get-together that never should have happened in the first place.