Breakups are terrible to witness. The heat of the moment results in some nasty things being said, and the realization of the end of something once good. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby realizes that a break up doesn’t take on a the first try for a long-term relationship; it happens in sequences and over time. Reedited into one large film (it was first two films) by writer/director Ned Benson, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby rides solid lead performances by the star-crossed couple Connor (James McAvoy) and Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) to fight through the rough patch of their tragic relationship. This movie breakup is hard to watch, but well set up enough to not hit too close to home like The Break Up.
Conner and Eleanor start the movie as an adorable indie couple from New York City, doing cute things and listening to quirky music. Then clearly something horrible happens, and the couple separate. Eleanor moves in with her family: father Julian (William Hurt), mother Mary (Isabelle Huppert), and sister Katy (Jess Weixler). She also starts taking college courses with Professor Friedman (Viola Davis). Connor movies in with his dad Spencer (Ciaran Hinds) and spends his time at his restaurant with his best friend Stuart (Bill Hader). Connor tries to reconnect with Eleanor, but she is reluctant, so they spend their time figuring out what to do without the other.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them was edited down from two films, Him and Her. The original idea was to showcase a breakup from two different viewpoints. I have not seen the two films, but that project sounds more ambitious than the one I saw. By editing down two full-length films into one feature, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them feels disjointed. The tragic event is never depicted, which is fine, but allusions made to it lack the proper context since we don’t see enough of the couple together, which is probably visible in the original cut. Connor’s material clearly wasn’t as interesting as Eleanor’s, so his relationships were truncated, minimizing his emotional impact on the story. The editing comes across like an Oscar bait instead of for creative reasons, disserving compelling observations on a relationship with no happily ever after.
Movies about breakups are rare because they often cut too close too home for audience members. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby gets around this through a couple clever means: the breakup is from circumstances out of the couple’s control, and the time period of the film is sufficiently after the event so the wounds have started to form scars on the couple, meaning the two can interact without being mean towards each other. The separation of the couple establishes their support systems: Eleanor’s got a supporting but strict family, and Connor has supportive but distant friends and a recently in the picture father. These support systems help replant the two on their feet for their potential reconciliation. However, the power of the movie is that the messy past prevents a total reconciliation: there’s no getting back to where the couple was. The choice then becomes: do you let go, or do you move on? A compelling question that most couples have choose at some point.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby relies heavily on James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. We need to believe they were in love, that they still care for one another, and they are still hurt by their shared terrible past. McAvoy has boyish charm and good looks, and channels the anger side of a relationship broken. McAvoy sells his disappointment in the faults of his father and longing for the world that defined him for so long. Chastain’s even better, making Eleanor a beacon for moving on. Chastain wears her personal conflict of moving on and leaving behind on her sleeve, and the scenes involving her parents show the earnest position of someone who doesn’t know what to do. Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt, Viola Davis, and Ciaran Hinds are fine as the parents or parent surrogates. Huppert and Hurt get more juicy screen time, but all four make their people real and supportive. Jess Weixler and Bill Hader’s material was left on the cutting room floor probably.
Eleanor Rigby gets her name from the Beatles Song, which about a lament for the lonely. Her Disappearance is both physical and emotional, as sometimes things are not just meant to be. I do have a question though: why do people only find these things out in New York city? Geez, that city is the most enlightened place in the universe according to cinema.