“TOWHEADS” ****
On her way to pick up her two sons at school, Penelope crosses path with many obstacles forcing her to face urban challenges. This aspect, which will be a constant metaphor throughout the journey of our heroine, is reflected on a woman dressed up sexy, construction workers, dogs, unpredictable figures of the Brooklyn neighborhood, careless drivers, a runner enjoying a break with some booze and smokes, eccentric characters trying to block her way. But she’s about to turn things up and run for her goals. Completely devoted to her home, her two active sons and the husband who’s always out on business, she seems comfortable and satisfied with the joys and challenges of home keeping. As she’s reaching another level in life, transitioning through middle-age, an emotional turbulence starts developing as she watches her sons growing up fast and the increasingly lack of communication and social life with her husband, becoming personal conflicts. She looks around and sees the transformations, and delves into a crisis examining abandoned ambitions, interrupted aspirations, artistic tendencies and feminine fantasies. When her neighbor tells her there’s an audition going on, she finds the right opportunity to express her needs, trying to rescue the time she put apart in order to grow a family, in search of proving her artistic skills and finding something else to care for in the future.
Aware and responsible of her duties as a mother and a wife, she grabs the circumstances destiny has given her, allowing herself a reboot but never letting her personal crisis distract her from what’s most important, home. Writer-Director Shannon Plumb plays Penelope, along with her two sons, Walker and Cody, and her husband, director Derek Cianfrance, creating an irresistible and smart character that resembles reality through her need of self-esteem amidst the insecurities of modern society and the fear of growing old. As she’s trying to resurrect her ambitions, embodying characters inspired by Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the narrative becomes affective with a natural and sensitive tone, a heart-warming look on family, with pleasant humor and hilarious situations. In some cases, which seems to be inspired by silent comedies, the director is able to create fun out of simple, ordinary but touching situations, such as the kids playing on the dinner table and her transformation on a ‘man for a day’. She proves her affinity with the material, and talent with the fusion of music, shots of the City’s streets, and acting coordination, making it a lovely and very funny film that looks inside a woman’s crisis with a bright and uplifting perspective on family efforts and the joyful full-time experience of parenthood. (Now thru January 29th at MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC. Director Plumb with be in attendance for a Q&A on Saturday, 25th)
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