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Movie Review: ‘Catch and Release’
‘Catch and Release’ Offers Wide
Emotional Net, But Little Harvest
BY MAGGIE SCOTT
The philosophical and metaphorical underpinnings of the new romantic dramedy “Catch and Release” must have sounded great at the concept stage when screenwriter and director Susannah Grant convinced producers and ultimately her cast that this story was a whopper that would reel in praise and box office dollars.
Unfortunately, the movie’s “hook” may be prodigious, but it has succeeded only in landing a finished product that is not a keeper. This is not the fault of the charming cast, led by the truly gifted Jennifer Garner, who in one of her infrequent sabbaticals from television (as star of “Alias”) proves that she has what it takes to carry a film.
The fault lies in Grant backing away from a realistic portrait of grief and the hard and often lengthy work it takes to work through it. As some of the participants saw it, the film’s title represents such ideas as “letting go of all the things we thought were so perfect and wonderful” and “to let something that you love and revere go so that you can move on in life.”
The trouble with the story ultimately is that the audience never understands what Gray Wheeler (Garner) has lost, who she has lost; what he meant to the friends who are also grieving his loss.
Few tears are shed; no anger is expressed at the inexpressibly cruel fate of the loss of someone with so much to look forward to and with so many people valuing the relationship they had with him. Grady was on his bachelor party fishing trip when he lost his life. Gray narrates how deeply distraught she is to know that some of their last words were in the form of an argument.
With no way to make things right, Gray has been cast adrift on very turbulent waters. This is presented quite well in the film’s opening scenes at the funeral reception. Gray cannot handle the words of condolence, the hugs of sympathy. She is out of her depth without Grady, whose friends Sam (Kevin Smith) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger) are awkwardly rallying around Gray.
The young men naturally believe they have to be strong for Gray, but they are resisting expressing their own pain. Ten minutes into the tableau of suffering, director Grant makes her first mistake. She sends Gray into the private home’s bathroom and its tub to escape the crush of mourners. From this sanctuary, she is interrupted by the abrupt intrusion of another of Grady’s friends.
Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) has come from L.A. not only to pay his respects, but also, it appears, to score with the reception’s seemingly very unprofessional caterer. This moment of concupiscence introduces what any fool can see will be future lovers. Most young people watching will understand how these things can and do happen.
Those who have experienced the kind of grief Gray is feeling will also know that in some cases, sex may help a person handle the fear and anguish associated with facing death. But, this time, the scene is just the first of many moments in the film where flippant boisterousness covers over issues and emotions needing more depth in their presentation.
Gray moves out of the house she shared with Grady and in with Dennis and Sam. Dennis is carrying a torch for Gray, while he’s working on a Peace Garden in Grady’s memory; and Sam is handling Grady’s death by adding just a bit more vodka to his smoothies. When Fritz decides to crash at the boys’ house, too, Gray’s grieving process becomes complicated by their sudden attraction to each other and by the news that Grady was not quite the pillar of virtue she thought he was.
She discovers and finally meets in the flesh the person with whom Grady shared a part of himself Gray never knew. According to Maureen (Juliette Lewis), a massage therapist, that sharing resulted in a child.
Disillusion, betrayal, guilt, confusion crowd Gray’s heart and mind as she deals with her feelings for Fritz and the feeling that they all need to do what’s right when it comes to Maureen, because it’s what Grady would want them to do.
A plaintive soundtrack fills in the gaps left by words unsaid in moments needing more than words. Catch and Release is a movie that casts a wide emotional net; but its harvest is missing a record-breaking trophy. A Columbia Pictures release, rated PG for sexual content, language and some drug use.
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