No Boundaries

What constitutes the family ideal in the America of 2010?

It was about who: mother, father, children. Now it’s more about what: love, tolerance, understanding. The what was always part of it, but everything fell into a system of well-defined roles which changed in a well-defined way over time. And there were societal consequences for any who lived outside of those roles.  There were also plenty of conventional families who made do without the what. There still are.

Welcome to the Rileys is a film that defines family in terms of what can work versus what is expected. It begins with three lost souls and ends with something different and better, but not something trite, obvious or well defined.  James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo fill the roles of parents who lived for a daughter who has died. With her death they have largely died as well. Leo more so than Gandolfini who continues to fight to find something approximating life in his world. Kristen Stewart plays an almost-homeless youth lost in the New Orlean’s sex trade. The three interact and something resembling family evolves.

The film is not a simple story of how a complicated man rescues a tough but innocent girl from the evils and perversions of the sex industry. That narrative relies on old-school moral offense to work and has been done several times before.

I found much more in Welcome to the Rileys.  It is a story about the family as an ill-defined relationship for a period of time.  It is the family loosely defined as a tacit agreement to honestly and fairly meet the needs of every member. So it is the opposite of those films which portray the man as the strong though confused rescuer and the girl as an irascible though weak victim.  This new sort of  family lessens the weaknesses and enhances the strengths of all. Participation is passive. Contribution is multi-directional. It has a certain magic.

Gandolfini makes the film, overcoming an unfortunate forced southern accent with his unique mixture of affability and reserve.  As Tony Soprano, his personal amalgam of strength and vulnerability allowed a likable character capable of the horrible. His running away from Soprano may be the source of the ill-chosen dialect.  But the best part, of what made Soprano work well, is present.  In this film he establishes himself as a contemporary John Wayne.  Sensitive in his toughness.  Attractive in his unattractiveness. Bold in his reticence.

Stewart plays the feral daughter of everyman, loosed into the harshness of the world, very well.  She is sensitive, vulnerable, tough, erratic, moody, and honest. There is little sadness in her character which is both good and surprising. Leo is a bit forced in her quiet role as modern housewife medicating life into an enabled form of oblivion.  She does have several humorous revelatory moments as she emerges back into the world. These are some of the best in the film.

The thing I liked best about Welcome to the Rileys is that it points no fingers.  It is a gentle film.  Things just happen. And things must be dealt with.  It is a step in the direction away from outrage (finding and contemplating a source for every woe) and takes the stance that, in just a moment, directions in life can be changed.  That with decisive action, right or wrong but well intentioned, paths can open and solutions can be found.  That ruminating on blame will do more harm than good and is more a way of avoiding action than solving problems.  It is refreshing after so many films that seek an audience by providing a villain that we’ve been trained collectively to hate.