Once again, Sarah Polley exhibits her uncanny ability to rip your heart right out of your ribcage and give it a thorough thrashing. Polley’s second film as director is a tale of a Margot (Michelle Williams) a woman who in Cape Breton mets Daniel (Luke Kirby). They get to know one another en route back to Toronto and opt to share a cab back to their homes. Turns out they’re neighbours in West Queen West, and while they quickly fall for one another, as Margot leaves the cab, she feels the need to inform Daniel that she’s married.
Her husband Lou (Seth Rogen) is a chef working on a cookbook, and invites his very Jewish family over to test out his recipes, and the audience meets his sister Geraldine (Sarah Silverman). A recovering alcoholic, wife, and mother, Geraldine is Margot’s closest confidant. She’s also an eagle-eyed friend and sees the trouble brewing before any other third party. Sadly, Margot and Daniel are falling in love.
Take This Waltz shows very human relationships as these characters struggle with communication issues, and struggle to find happiness in their lives. They don’t know where to go, and Margot doesn’t know how find her happiness. She goes looking for it in another man, but it only amplifies her own inner turmoil, but at least it brings it to the surface to be addressed.
The film is shot beautifully and shows Toronto in a fantastic light. The romantic pool scene between Daniel and Margot is shot so well, that you could watch hours of that footage without getting bored. As Margot and Daniel take the monorail at Lester B. Pearson International Airport, you’re just looking at pure beauty… at an airport. Polley, an accomplished actor, proves once again that her skills as a director is not limited to her work with her performers, but has an all-around skill that is so rewarding to the audience.
Besides a few geographical inconsistencies1 this film is absolutely fantastic. I cannot recommend this any more.
Now I think I’ll go watch her previous film Away From Her and cry some more.
- Someone can actually fall asleep on a flight between Montreal and Toronto? Really, you walk from West Queen West to Little Italy and only THEN get on the TTC? Going for a quick coffee in Kensington when there’s tons of coffee shops just west in Parkdale? [↩]