Review: Hateship Loveship
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: C-] Liza Johnson's adaptation of a 2001 Alice Munro short story ends up coming off as a troublesome commentary on what it takes to "fix" a broken person.
City Paper grade: C-
Odd in approach and incomplete in execution, Liza Johnson’s adaptation of a 2001 Alice Munro short story ends up coming off as a troublesome commentary on what it takes to “fix” a broken person. Coming off decades at the side of an elderly, bedridden woman, developmentally stunted Johanna (Kristen Wiig) lands a job as a caretaker for slow-moving Mr. McCauley (Nick Nolte) and his surly granddaughter, Sabitha (Hailee Steinfeld). Johanna learns that Sabitha’s mother was killed in a tragic accident, with her drug-addicted father, Ken (Guy Pearce), absorbing all the blame. Resentful of Johanna and recognizing the awkward romantic interest her new live-in babysitter has in her dad, Sabitha and her BFF strike up a catfish-y email correspondence, leading Johanna to show up on Ken’s doorstep under the false belief he wants to be with her. The way both emotionally undergrown adults react to the cruel tricks of children is the crux of the film, but their relationship is shooed along so haphazardly that it’s laughable. Sure, all Johanna’s ever known is cleaning and cooking for people who need her more than she needs them, but it’s difficult to buy that a few scrubbings of a filthy floor and a couple pots of beef stew can convince a selfish junkie like Ken to kick his habits cold turkey. Wiig proves she’s got chops that reach beyond her comedic roots, but the character written for her does not seem like a real person so much as a magical being who cures the world’s ills with housework.
