This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sometimes thoughtful and compelling, sometimes talky and overinflated, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" is a dark, emotionally wrought drama of a marriage hitting the skids.
It begins with Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) and Conor (James McAvoy), young and deliriously in love. This is prologue, since we next see Eleanor jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. She survives and moves back in with her parents (William Hurt, Isabelle Huppert), unwilling to speak of a tragedy that led to the attempted suicide. Conor, now staying with his emotionally distant father (Ciaran Hinds), tries to maintain his failing restaurant while also occasionally stalking Eleanor as she tries returning to college.
Writer-director Ned Benson originally wrote this as a trilogy, with the other two parts showing the marriage from his and her perspectives. It sometimes relies too heavily on overly intellectualized dialogue, but the combination of the two storylines creates some fascinating juxtapositions of the male and female viewpoints, as Eleanor and Conor warily consider whether they can come back from the brink. The performances are rock-solid, particularly Chastain, who slides gracefully through Eleanor's many prickly moods. —
HHH
'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby'
Opens Friday, Sept. 19, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas; rated R for language; 122 minutes.