2008, USA
Biography, Documentary, Drama, Romance
READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
In Phyllis and Harold, director Cindy Kleine introduces audiences to her parents, rummages through their belongings and delivers the dirt as if viewers were sitting in the family living room. Time passes like a slow afternoon, with impatience building where there should be dramatic effect. Perhaps interesting enough in summary, drawing the story out into a feature film length proves tedious.
It is quickly stated that the titular couple should not have married, but he was about to become a successful dentist and she had decided that since she was willing to sleep with him, she could probably stand marrying him. To look at them 55 years later, Phyllis appears tortured and dramatic while Harold reflects on a perfectly peaceable marriage to a beautiful wife. It becomes apparent that Harold kept her on a rather short leash down a path of motherhood and hostessing, while Phyllis kept her mind on a life that never was.
The couple's life is told through interviews with the two over many years. The only other voices are of their two daughters, director Cindy and sister Ricky, who are frank in their discussion of a rocky homelife with controlling father Harold and distant mother Phyllis. Cindy crosses the line in personal documentary filmmaking by not only narrating but speaking directly to the camera, which could have easily voiced over the repetitious family movies and photos. In addition, stop motion animation is used to distraction to illustrate her eavesdropping on her own family. Perhaps a trick to draw out the relatively short run time, but it is unnecessary.
The film should have been titled Phyllis, as she quickly becomes the focus. Despite reading aloud old love letters to each other -- which appears staged and stretched -- the film creeps slowly to a family secret. Everyone except Harold knows that Phyllis had a passionate affair and still carries a torch for her lover decades later. The film pulls away from the focus on a marriage and evolves into an explanation behind settling. Even the daughters question the marriage and assist their mother in tracking down Phyllis' one true love, 40 years later. The only fanfare revolves around their sneakiness to bypass their father in their pursuit as he sleeps in his recliner.
As Phyllis dreamt of the love she lost, she floated through motherhood, allowing caretaker Annie to become a surrogate mom to Cindy. Though used to illustrate Phyllis' state of mind, this sidestory falls off track of the main characters and finds more connection to the film's narrator. Like mother, like daughter.
Much like a casual conversation, the story rambles along by grasping at emotions and failing to gather important details which could have fleshed out this relationship. Solely told by immediate family members, Phyllis and Harold is delivered from such an intimate viewpoint that it is difficult for strangers to grasp the weight of the turmoil or whether the emotion is overwrought. Some home movies are best viewed by those who are in them.