![]() ![]() It’s a film that’s more in love with atmosphere than its own sympathetic protagonist. Before that point, I’m Your Woman seems all too content to let Brosnahan’s game and appropriately unglamorous performance do all of the lifting, with the actress’ only primary supports coming from a lot of period appropriate decor and costume changes. There’s no gradual awakening to be found in I’m Your Woman until it snaps completely into focus with the arrival of better characters who finally shake the movie from its doldrums. So much has been kept from Jean that she’s essentially a blank slate with no autonomy of her own, and it extends to making the audience sit there, waiting for something – anything – to happen of consequence. ![]() I understand that this is a new situation for this character, but it’s made clear early on that she knew her husband was a criminal when they got together. Even when that moment arrives, the characters simply hit the road again and more time is killed without anything being explained.Īs great of a performer as she is, I can only spend so much time watching Brosnahan looking worried or staring off into space without knowing what she’s worried about. While I appreciate the film’s ability to orient the audience towards Jean’s headspace, the laboured and languorous pace is dragged out to such a degree that the film’s first sparks of menace and life – around the 45 minute mark – feel more like a relief than a release of tension. Now not only is Jean on her own and having to care for a kid that both is and isn’t her’s, but she has to wallow in the discomfort of wondering where her husband is, who these people that are aiding her are running from, and what their next move is going to be. Eddie isn’t a great husband, but there’s a strong sense that he was always around in some capacity to provide for and protect Jean. ![]() Hart wants to place viewers firmly in the shoes of a woman who has never been left completely alone in her life. I understand what Hart ( Fast Color, Stargirl ) and co-writer/husband Jordan Horowitz are trying to accomplish by getting I’m Your Woman off to such a disorienting and mysterious start. A confused and scared Jean and her baby hit the road, eventually settling down in a house, waiting for word from her husband – or literally anyone else – about what happened. She’s gifted $200,000 in cash and driven away by Cal (Arinzé Kene), a black associate of Eddie’s that she’s never met before. Not long after “adopting” the baby, Jean is informed by one of Eddie’s partners-in-crime that she needs to get out of town immediately, no questions asked. There’s no explanation how he got the baby or if it even has a name, but Eddie tells Jean that it’s totally cool for her to raise the kid as their own. One day, in a bid to cheer up his infertile wife, Eddie brings Jean a baby. It’s hard to tell just how in love they are, as Jean seems genuinely out-of-sorts, and Eddie acts oblivious to anything being wrong. Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is married to Eddie (Bill Heck), a cocky career criminal. ![]() At 120 minutes, it’s rather punishing and obvious. At 80 minutes in length, I’m Your Woman would have been thrilling and subtle. The crushing dissatisfaction that pervades throughout I’m Your Woman threatens to undo any messages the film has to offer about female resilience and race. The 1970s set I’m Your Woman has a positively deathly first hour to sit through, and once the latest effort from director and co-writer Julia Hart finally gets going, a new problem emerges when the film introduces a supporting character that has a more interesting and vibrant backstory than the protagonist the viewer has been trying and failing to get to know for half the film’s running time. What starts with a kernel of a good idea quickly devolves into a case of style over substance, with too much dead space between the more interesting character beats and themes. Although it’s made with a considerable amount of visual and performative talent, the disappointing thriller I’m Your Woman is an empty, wheel spinning experience. ![]()
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