First up: Parents, the new animated feature film Tangles is not to be confused with Disney’s fairy tale toon Tangled, just in case you ever run into the two titles looking for the latter but perhaps accidentally letting junior see the former instead.
That said, perhaps the full title of Canadian illustrator Sarah Leavitt‘s graphic memoir, Tangles: A Story About Alzheimers, My Mother, and Me, is just too long and exact for any marquee, so the shortened Tangles will have to do. This is unapologetically an adult animation feature, one presented almost entirely in black and white and centered, however loosely, on the author’s own experience in dealing with the decline of her mother into dementia and full-on Alzheimer’s, even as she sets out to find a life of her own in the big city and the LGBTQ+ community into which she has settled.
Moving the locale from Canada to San Francisco and Maine, and emphasizing some light over the darkness usually associated with films dealing with this subject, this movie adaptation is directed by Leah Nelson, who collaborated on the script with Leavitt and Trev Renney. It could be mistaken for Disney’s Tangled not just title-wise but also for a raucous comedy, if you just focus on the impressive and starry voice cast including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein, Abbi Jacobson, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Bowen Yang and Pamela Adlon. Funny? Yes, in spirit and some parts ,no doubt. But a comedy? Not really. Tangles is first and foremost the stuff of life, the stuff of many lives, especially people living through it personally with their families and who likely will shed a tear or two at this tender, heart-wrenching treatment of the effects of a very cruel disease on those closest to us.
It is 1999, and Sarah (Jacobson) is a receptionist and illustrator for one of those hip alt-magazines located in San Francisco where she now lives and is immersed in the gay community, embarking on a serious relationship with Donimo (Samira Wiley), sexual and otherwise, perusing the gay nightclub scene and finding a life that is all her own. Reality crashes this party however when on a visit back home to small town Maine, she witnesses her mom Midge (Louis-Dreyfus), a vibrant personality, starting to act a little strangely. At first it just seems weird, and Dad Rob (Cranston) writes if off to nothing to be concerned about. As time goes by it becomes a little more pronounced, even on a family trip to Mexico where Sarah uses the opportunity to introduce the family to Donimo. Once a doctor has correctly diagnosed Midge’s decline as dementia into Alzheimers, the story reflects reality in dealing with it, not always easy as Midge’s lust for life starts drifting downward, eventually to anger and all the horrific effects of losing any sense of who you once were. As Sarah returns to San Francisco, it becomes impossible to stay long as this disease starts to claim her own freedom as her mom enters the final phases.
Tangles is Sarah’s story, expertly interpreted by Jacobson, a free spirit still held back due to her responsibility as a loving daughter. You have to wonder what Leavitt’s real mother might have thought of this becoming a graphic novel and major animated motion picture, but I think she would be proud. It is heartfelt, at the same time funny and real, sad and hopeful for Sarah. Louis-Dreyfus who did great voice work this Spring in The Sheep Detective tops it her with a remarkable vocal performance that tells you all you need to know about a person ever so slowly watching Alzheimers rob her of life as she knew it. Cranston, as you might expect, is also sensational, as is the rest of the cast who lend their own personality to bringing this all alive.
The visual choice to do this all (mostly) in black and white works well on screen, perhaps not completely faithful to the way Leavitt drew it, but appropriate for a different medium that demands less abstraction in order to get to the heart and soul of what this moving motion picture is really all about.
Tangles premiered last month as a Special Presentation of the Cannes Film Festival and is in competition this week at the Annecy Film Festival in France. It is dedicated to the real life Donimo.
Producers are Vicky Patel, Steve Barnett, Alan Powell, Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee, Lauren Miller Rogen, Jennifer W. Ray, Jay Grandin, Teresa Toews, Nelson, Ross Murray, and Louis-Dreyfus.
Title: Tangles
Festival: Annecy (Competition)
Director: Leah Nelson
Screenwriters: Leah Nelson, Sarah Leavitt, Trev Renney
Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen, Samira Wiley, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Bowen Yang, Pamela Adlon, Fern Grandin
Running time: 1 hr 42 mins
Sales agent: UTA/CAA (domestic); Charades (international)
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.
