Directed by Julia Neill and Jacob Z. Smith, written by Lisa Hagen, faced with a future of chair-xercise and spoon-fed pudding, nursing home friends Nora and Edna attempt to break out of the ‘fox farm’ and find a life worth sticking around for. Starring: Sheila McCarthy, Mary Walsh, Amanda Brugel, Kevin Kincaid, Laura Jones and Reid Price.
In recent years we’ve seen an uptake in films exploring aging, doing it in a way that’s actually realistic and sensitive, which is a refreshing change from the stereotypical curmudgeon elderly characters of the past. Dancing on the Elephant is a wonderful addition to that club, the writing from Lisa Hagen is gentle and funny, it creates such a perfect balance between the comedy and the drama. Hagen layers in larger emotional issues quietly and gracefully, not needing to address them all directly, letting the audience put the pieces together. Those choices add hints of sadness which help to elevate the depth of the atmosphere.
Julia Neill and Jacob Z. Smith’s directorial style then follows Hagen’s lead, focusing on finding the humour but never losing grasp on the weight of the topics. It’s quietly moving, but it also has an edge of cheesiness which is wonderful. They tap into the characters’ age and senses of humour to create something that reflects their slightly old-fashioned nature, without being limited by it or feeling old-fashioned in itself. Neill and Smith bring a lot of wholesomeness and plenty of cheekiness, which fits really well with the sincerity that the rest of Dancing on the Elephant has to offer.
The mix of those qualities is definitely in no small part achieved thanks to the performances from Sheila McCarthy and Mary Walsh. McCarthy provides a greatly accessible, sympathetic and sweet guide to lead this story. She instils in Nora so much kindness and she has a strongly wholesome presence. Whereas Walsh was presented with a complicated character in Edna, not only because of her declining condition but that her condition also brings up the traumas of her past. She’s a force of nature in one moment, then vulnerable and pained in another, and Walsh does a terrific job of capturing the many different sides to her.
Together, Sheila McCarthy and Mary Walsh are even better. The friendship that they create, to vent about aging and family and being stuck in the old folk’s home is surprisingly fun. It’s not wild and they don’t set off on some unpredictable adventure, it’s relatively simple but that’s why it works so well. It’s down to earth and funny, even more so when you bring the wonderful Amanda Brugel into the mix. She helps to bring out the different sides of Edna and Nora, but she also has her own struggles to explore, trying to find the balance of strict yet generous in both the home and her personal life. They make for an unlikely but terrific trio, with the added complement of a touching performance from Reid Price.
Dancing on the Elephant is charming, funny and sweet. Sheila McCarthy and Mary Walsh give terrific performances, and they have excellent support in Amanda Brugel and Reid Price, who help to boost both the comedy and the emotion. Lisa Hagen’s writing is tender and organic, which is perfectly paired with the directorial style from Julia Neill and Jacob Z. Smith. It’s an endearing, moving film with its heart on its sleeve, and it’s always lovely to see more filmmakers creating this kind of earnest, kind cinema. As well as creating elderly characters with genuine layers and personality.
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