Bleeker Street Films hosted a special screening of “I’ll See You In My Dreams” at the Tribeca Grand Hotel on Monday, May 11.
Stars Blythe Danner, Sam Elliott, Rhea Perlman and Co-Writer/Director Brett Haley were in attendance. Additional Guests included Uma Thurman, Danny DeVito, Bob Balaban, Phylicia Rashad, America Olivo, Caroline Lagerfelt, Montego Glover, Donnie Kehr, Swoosie Kurtz, Taylor Louderman, Jennifer Prediger, and Peter Riegert
The movie followed Carol (Danner) as she moves on with her life after the death of her dog. With the movie spanning the next few days after her death, it shows Carol disrupting a life full of routine to try new things and meet new people. After finding a rat in her home, she decides to fall asleep outside and ends up befriending the Pool Guy (Martin). He’s a college graduate who recently moved back home to be with his mom and doesn’t really know what to do with his life. His scenes provide dry humor but quickly become relatable for college grads who feel lost. The funniest scene in film was when Carol and the girls decide to get high and end up buying munchies at the supermarket.
But the break through moment was when Carol talks to her daughter and says she didn’t ask for her husband to leave her alone in her old age by dying in the plane crash. Up until then, it seemed that she was perfectly accustomed to living alone and playing cards with her friends, but in that moment, the audience got to see something powerful. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan and we have to stick around and make sense of them all. The film did a fantastic job of portraying female friendships, living with loss, and most of all love. Love is unexpected and sometimes comes from those we don’t expect. Carol didn’t expect to begin dating again after her husband died until she met Bill and neither did she expect to become friends with the Pool Guy. The writing was excellent and this is definitely a must see. The film hits theaters this Friday.
-Simran Pabla