|
|
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
|
|
HOLLYWOOD LOL
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
The battle between the generations has always made for enticing cinema. Yet
nowhere in history has the generation gap between the young and the little older
been more apparent than in our technologically advanced world where there are so
many websites to `connect` us all yet so less `human` connection.
"LOL" navigates in the no man`s land between the two generations and
though there`s really nothing new, its light, breezy manner and gentle humour
that thankfully works to push the drama forward than trying to force you to
laugh and works to make a pleasant and fulfilling film.
And with its various shades of love -- between teenagers, people way past their
romantic prime, mother and daughter etc, it becomes the perfect film to watch on
Valentine`s Day.
As if dealing with her complicated love life with a cheating boyfriend, who she
breaks up with wasn`t enough, under-18 Lola has to content with her divorcee
mother having an affair with her father.
To `complicate` things further, she finds herself falling for the best friend of
her ex-boyfriend.
Lola navigates the minefield that is teenage life, through the complicated
multiple lives she lives on social media and in school that result in sometimes
tearful and at other, poignant moments.
It shows in very interesting manner how despite so much technology that is meant
to `connect` them, teenagers often find it difficult to connect with those
around, be it their lovers, friends or parents.
"LOL", a remake of a 2008 French film of the same name, navigates its
material well.
Though there are many subplots, it does not lose way or get too gregariously
close with any one of them. It resolves them with a lightness of writing and
direction that makes it a very pleasing watch.
There is no attempt at making a melodrama and neither does it dwell on the
seemingly frivolous complaints and heartbreaks of the kids in the film. This
command perhaps comes because writer and director Lisa Azuelos`s last film was
the original French.
If there were any mistake in the original, she obviously has had enough time to
improve upon it.
Demi Moore plays a conflicted and overwhelmed single mom unsure when to be
strict and when to be lenient with her daughter. She confidently sheds her
`sexy` image in a role that will perhaps herald the second innings of her acting
career.
Though the film is about love and generation-gap, it is something everyone would
relate to in their own way. It could have been made anytime and would have
worked. However, in our times of too much technology with sufficient technology
infused in the film, it works even better.
It is a must watch for parents struggling to connect with their `connected` kids
and for young people who don`t know why their parent`s can`t understand them.
