Our Movie Review: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014)

Why we watched this movie: She loves James McAvoy

Our rating: 4 out of 5 stars

His review: Recent films like Under the Skin & Ida have effectively used a deliberately measured pace conveyed through a quiet tone. Layers of individual scenes, with minimal emotional expression, build up a collage of emotions. The narrative–what happened and why–stays in the background while the character’s response to those events draws us in.

Such is the power of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. Benson, along with McAvoy and Chastain, guides us through the remains of a relationship devastated by a tragedy. The tragedy itself is the backstory. We only get scenes of this couple after the death, living apart and struggling to find a new path in life; and before the birth, in the throes of love and happiness. The approach reflects the couples own avoidance, not evening allowing their parents to talk about their grief. Only in the final scenes do we get a picture of the child, who remains unnamed to the end.

The beauty of this movie comes in the pace, and in the measured performances of Chastain and McAvoy. Chastain shows us a character who has turned the pain inward, and is existing but not knowing how to live. McAvoy wants to fix the broken relationship, but poignantly knows there are no magic words to easily rend what has been ripped apart.

This film was original two films, from the perspective of each. However, the combined “Them” version is only available on disc now. With the two films, we get the same events from different perspectives, and more scenes with secondary characters. In fact, the title refers to the “His” version, in which he is trying to find his lost wife. While I look forward to seeing these versions and how they add to the depth of the experience, this combined film is well worth seeing for the strong performances.

Her review: There’s very little James McAvoy cannot do, in my humble opinion. Even in a not-great movie (I’m looking at you, Penelope) he brings a sincerity and a heart to the role that makes the movie more than it otherwise would be. This movie is another example of that. Originally meant to be two movies – illustrated in Them by the shadings of red for Her and blue for Him – Them does have the feeling of being somewhat cobbled together, leaving a few things to the viewer’s imagination; how they got to this point, what has happened, etc.  And while I have not always been on the Chastain-bandwagon, she is good here at seeming steely around a struggling, vulnerable, arguably spoiled-brat center. The two leads also have wonderful chemistry together, which is crucial to make something like this work; the scenes where they are alone together are beautiful wrought with layers of emotion. The supporting roles here, with so much repressed in the center, are important and are most poignantly represented by William Hurt and Viola Davis, the college prof who loves Eleanor for, it needs to be noted, no discernible reason.

It comes down to, though, whether we believe McAvoy and Chastain as the grieving couple and I do: the loss they have suffered and how they handle it has defined them and their (broken) relationship. Give me James McAvoy’s expressive face as he seeks to put back together what he’s lost and I’m in.