Mubi Monday: Die My Love (2025)

I can easily see why director Lynne Ramsay wasn't initially keen to work on this film, which looks at the disintegrating mental health of a young woman after the birth of her child. Ramsay previously gave us the ultimate look at that kind of thing in We Need To Talk About Kevin. That also had an exploration of nature vs. nurture though, whereas this is all about someone losing their own identity, and healthy love of life, piece by piece. It has motherhood in the mix, but it's really more about how we can sometimes give too much to other people in relationships that then leave us without enough energy to properly take care of ourselves. Sometimes that is the fault of the other people, especially if they keep demanding too much of your time and attention. Sometimes it is a fault with the person who wants to keep busy and serve others while avoiding any time that could lead to some introspection.

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson are, respectively, Grace and Jackson. The two of them move into a home left behind by Jackson's deceased uncle. It needs a lot of work done to it, but it at least feels like a good home for them to start their family. Jumping forward slightly, Grace is left at home a lot with their young son, Jackson is often working away, and things start to sour quicker than a carton of milk left on the windowsill on a scorching summer day.

Based on a book by Ariana Harwicz, Ramsay has done well to collaborate with Enda Walsh and Alice Birch on the screenplay, but quite possibly did even better to assemble a cast who all had faith in her process and were up to the challenge of portraying their characters in a convincing and natural way. The screenplay works well in terms of the structure and the strong thematic core running all the way through it, but the film works as well as it does thanks to the lack of vanity shown by Lawrence and co.

LaKeith Stanfield isn't given much to do, sadly, but is as welcome as ever in his supporting role. Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek get moments that easily remind you of how great they are, but everything steps up a level when either Pattinson or Lawrence are onscreen, with the latter particularly strong delivering a performance that could arguably be considered the best of her career. It is, however, a performance much better than the film that she's in.

I really like the work of Ramsay. She's been delivering one fantastic film after another for almost the entirety of her directorial career. Die My Love is good, and it tries to walk a line between the many clouds and the infrequent silver linings, but it doesn't ever do enough to become great. Whether due to the source material (which I am unfamiliar with, sorry) or her own choices, Ramsay feels a bit undecided about where exactly she wants to take the characters. She also blurs reality and fantasy in a way that works against the potential impact of various moments in the third act, which is a stark contrast to the way she has handled such a blurring in her previous features.

There's still a lot to enjoy and appreciate here, and many others have heaped a lot of praise on this already, but it feels like the weakest film yet from Ramsay. Perhaps she was right to be hesitant when initially offered this opportunity. It certainly feels as if she doesn't have the confidence and instincts here that have served her so well elsewhere. 

6/10

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The Man With Two Brains (1983)

When asked to choose my favourite Steve Martin movie, it's a tough choice. This movie, The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Roxanne and so many others could be in the top spot. But people can be insistent when they ask such questions, and if they're insistent enough I usually cave in and tell them that The Man With Two Brains is my very favourite. Why? Well . . . . . . . . it just IS.

The demented storyline concerns the eminent brain surgeon, Dr. Hfuhruhurr (Martin), and the stroke of fate that puts him in the grasping claws of femme fatale, Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner). Dolores is a woman that we first see revelling in her evil ways, teasing an elderly husband until he can take no more. She wants him to die, she thinks that she is due to inherit everything, but things change. Just a few scenes later, Dolores is recovering in hospital and has the good doctor under her spell. But she's not the only woman to want him in her life. There is one other who appears on the scene, one with much nobler intentions and a sweeter personality. She just happens to be a brain floating in a jar in the laboratory of Dr. Alfred Necessiter (David Warner). Her name is Anne Uumellmahaye (voiced by Sissy Spaceck).

If that descriptive paragraph doesn't have enough lunacy in it for you then I feel that I should mention the subplot involving The Elevator Killer, a sobriety test that remains the best, and funniest, ever shown onscreen and a recitation of the classic poem entitled "Pointy Birds".

The madness of Steve Martin in his prime isn't for everyone, but it most certainly is for me. I've been a huge fan of the guy ever since I first saw his output from the early '80s (and I also used to own Steve Martin Live on VHS - a tape I nearly wore out because I watched it so often) and he continues to be, in my opinion, a giant of comedy. Oh, he may be far removed from the days when he could get away with the stuff on show here, but see him working a crowd, or even making people chuckle on Twitter, and you can easily be reminded of his power. Kathleen Turner had another potent kind of power, but it also shouldn't be forgotten just how great she is in this comedic role, one that uses both her sexual allure and a bravura willingness to go along with the madness. David Warner, Paul Benedict, Richard Brestoff and Randi Brooks all have their own memorable moments, while Sissy Spaceck may only be here in a vocal way but she's the sweetest brain in a jar that you could ever listen to. There's also fun to be had spotting Jeffrey Combs and James Cromwell in very small roles.

Director Carl Reiner, who helped to write the movie with Martin and George Gipe, knows how to make the most of every gag, as he would prove again and again over the years. His relationship with Martin would produce the best movies that either man would be involved in, with this being the pinnacle - two men who work brilliantly together being left to have a lot of fun at the height of their powers (comedically speaking).

It doesn't get much better than this, and if you disagree then you may be in need of some screw top, zip lock brain surgery.

10/10

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