Images courtesy of Actors House Studio
NORA— 3 STARS
The title character in Nora, played by writer-director Anna Campbell of You, Me & Her, is a middle-aged mother who finds herself needing to step up to fuller parental responsibilities. Her daughter, Sadie, is beginning kindergarten. Even though she gets a little bit of empty nest, “treat yourself” freedom while the kid is at school, Nora is still overwhelmed and out of her element. With her husband out of town from the Portland suburbs in Oregon for six weeks for work, Nora is frequently leaning on her disapproving mother, Terry, played by Academy Award nominee Lesley Ann Warren, and a reliable babysitter (Nancy Hale) for help.
LESSON #1: YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK HOME— Getting that available assistance required Nora to relocate to her old hometown, creating the other wrinkle with this movie’s setup. While this counts as a new school and town for Sadie (Sophie Mara Baaden), this place is all too familiar for Nora, as she runs into her own former classmates as fellow school parents. The old adage of “You can always go home” rings true, as this is a safe and welcoming place, but it amplifies a reputation that precedes Nora. As we see Nora and Sadie jamming out to Teletubbies music in the car, that’s the tempo of Nora’s life right now, but that wasn’t always the case. It used to have an entirely different beat.
Lo and behold, Nora was a successful recording artist and songwriter a decade ago. Fame treated her well and kept her away from her hometown, a fact her former friends are rubbing into her resentfully as they reconnect in the present. Back home unpacking, she finds her old lyric journals, including the notes to her biggest hit “I Fall Apart.” That background has Nora moving at a different and looser vibe than the other pro moms, especially PTA president Jessica (Shameless’s Kate Miner), making her jumpy and leading to many moments of her awkwardly saying the wrong thing around them or her child’s young teacher Adam (Nick Fink of Judas and the Black Messiah).
LESSON #2: CHANGING DREAMS— Deep inside, Nora’s a rocker, and she misses that robust vibrancy. Anna Campbell drops a great line in the first third of the movie when reflects on her frazzle to one of those put-together super moms to say, “It’s like I changed dreams or something.” Looking inwardly, she’s spot on. Parenting has been fulfilling in a different way, as Nora’s reached a point that, no matter how badly she crashes a burns with the duties and finer points, she would do anything for Sadie. Every parent can relate to that, big dreams or otherwise.
LESSON #3: DREAMS THAT WON’T GO AWAY— Still, the musical itch is still there. Nora gets a lift remembering the good old days with her visiting oldest friend, Charlie (Jay Walker of Linoleum), and in the chances she gets to sing classroom songs with Adam. From these urges, Nora takes us into the protagonist’s psyche to a totally different realm of her personality. Nora breaks up its narrative with various song interludes, each pouring forth a different emoted feeling from her hopeful and ever-churning imagination.
These performance breaks stemming from Noah Harmon’s music and Campbell’s songwriting are collectively, by far, the best scenes of the movie. Cinematographer Kevin Fletcher (It’s What’s Inside) dances throughout the unique settings of inventive illusions built by debuting production designer Carrie Jordan. There’s even one full-on animated sequence which increases the feast for the eyes and ears. The whole cast, from Nick Fink and Kate Miner to Jay Walker and Lesley Ann Warren with Anna Campbell leading the way, gets in on the action with full gusto, and the wardrobe work from costume designer Savannah Kay Gordon (The A-List) and makeup accentuations by Michelle Stoyanoff’s (Strange Darling) department give them pop. Altogether, the style points and engaging draw of these dalliances are off the charts and impressively made, especially for a frugal independent film.
LESSON #3: WHEN ARTISTIC SPARKS CREATE PERSONAL BALANCE—Those visually realized dreams are their own magic, yet their aura finds a way to spark new inspiration within the main character. After bonding musically with Teacher Adam in the classroom and at an open mic night get-together, Nora finds a missing part of herself again that she should have never squelched. Amid all the pressures she puts on herself to be a responsible mom, flexing artistic muscles and sparking the creative synapses of music creates a new balance in Nora’s life. It’s safe to say every parent watching Nora needs to carve out some self-care time in their schedules to do their own just-for-you enrichment activity, whatever it may be. Watching that happen for do-it-all talent Anna Campbell—inside and outside the film, through this very personal character—is a special and poignant kind of introspection and heartfelt display of talent very worth viewing.
LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1308)
