Gloria Bell

Sebastián Lelio’s original 2013 Chilean film of a similar name, Gloria, wasn’t all that great, original, or groundbreaking by any means, so it’s quite surprising/interesting that his even more sanitized remake for American audiences was greenlit, but then again Hollywood doesn’t really like to rock the boat with anything that’s that fresh, so it actually makes perfect sense. Julianne Moore plays Gloria, a divorced yet free-spirited woman in her late fifties (what an unbelievable stretch of her acting muscles!) that seeks out a cure for her loneliness at various L.A. dance clubs. Gloria soon finds that special spark she’s been looking for with another divorcée around her same age, Arnold (played by John Turturro) (not much of a stretch for him either!), although he’s more recently divorced and not as free from his past relationship and its responsibilities as Gloria is. Both have ups and downs because of their insecurities, jealousy, and interpersonal miscommunication issues, which is presented with over-the-top soap opera dramatics we’ve seen on the screen in other features ad nauseam. Both Moore and Turturro have great chemistry with each other, but it’s a little sad to see such great acting talent wasted on characters that any mediocre actor in Hollywood around the same age could easily play. And the soundtrack is only tolerable if you’re somehow into disco and/or Air Supply. If the movie had been set locally here in Atlanta it could have been called Johnny’s Hideaway: The Motion Picture.