As a Divorcee, a Woman Embraces What Life Has to Offer

Julianne Moore and John Turturro in "Gloria Bell"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

When someone says that you’re as young as you feel, it’s a sentiment that a person should always try to welcome.  Any stage in your life when you’re given a chance to rediscover who they are can be an eyeopening experience, leading you to new adventures and finding out the surprises that life can bring.  This is something on which writer-director Sebastián Lelio focused in his 2013 drama, “Gloria,” a story that followed the titular character as she attempts to bring a spark back into her life.

Lelio now helms an English-language remake titled “Gloria Bell.”  With this, I was curious to see if Lelio would approach the story with something a little different.  Although there’s not much that’s added to the narrative to distinguish it from the 2013 original, it’s held together by some fine direction and a terrific lead performance.

In Los Angeles, Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore) is a divorcee who enjoys her free time in night clubs.  When she meets Arnold (John Turturro), the two begin a relationship, while also trying to handle problems within their families.   

Similar to Paulina García’s transcendent performance in Lelio’s original film, Moore elicits an I-don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world attitude that gives her the confidence to have fun with her life.  Moore’s character has a smile and a laugh that can brighten anyone’s day, and her optimistic persona makes it difficult to not share Gloria’s view when she says, “When the world blows up, I hope I go down dancing.”  There’s a lot of warmth to Moore’s work in this film, with her character showing the deep love that she has for her family and trying to connect with them, despite how tenuous those connections may be. 

The chemistry between Moore and Turturro expresses the happiness of finding love at an unexpected time, and the naturalism and sense of love between the two performers make this a relationship where it’s never difficult to believe that these two are falling for each other right before your eyes. 

The supporting cast includes Michael Cera as Gloria’s son, Brad Garrett as her ex-husband, and Caren Pistorius as her daughter.  The interactions between them and Gloria have a detached quality that’s effective because of how much they emphasize the strain that’s felt between these characters.

The screenplay by Lelio and Alice Johnson Boher doesn’t offer much that’s new to the story, and, for the most part, it plays out like the original, scene for scene.  Seeing as this is a remake, one would think that Lelio would have a purpose for revisiting this story and approach it from a fresh angle.  With a new cast and different setting, Lelio and Boher could have used those changes to make this film different from the original, but still be able to maintain the essence of the original.  To this movie’s credit, it accomplishes the latter.

Although the pace of the film may seem slow, it makes sense for Lelio to have the narrative unfold like that because this story isn’t meant to be fast and upbeat, but rather a contemplative view of someone who takes life day by day and remains patient to see what might happen next.  Using this steady pace, Lelio lets scenes play out for a while so that we can grasp the emotions that are occurring within characters and between them. 

“Gloria Bell” might not be a necessary remake, but with a wonderful performance that takes you through part of the main character’s life, you wouldn’t mind hitting the dance floor with her.

Grade: B