This movie is about relationships. Everything else is a framework to color in the lives of two lonely people who are a mere 60 years apart in age. The "deus ex machina" of finding a small fortune stuffed in an old thermos at a garage sale is just a device to bring these two people together. The San Fernando Valley is a very curious place where nothing seems nailed down and appearances can be more than deceiving. Porn stars live next door to orthodox Jews and octogenarians, all isolated in their own worlds and oblivious to their neighbors just feet away. Hemingway is isolated by her profession (porn star) unable to have a meaningful relationship and Johnson is isolated by her age and past losses that have caused her to withdraw to her quaint bungalow. Slowly and fitfully, a relationship between the two grows.
The movie is well paced and well directed. The porn theme is handled creatively and tastefully. It is a full half way through the film that Hemingway's profession is revealed. I do have a problem with the every scene being overexposed by about 2/3 stops and seriously desaturated. It is a cinematographic technique that has its limits. There are a few continuity issues that should have been resolved in the editing process, but overall, this film is a poignant and sensitive view of life in L.A. in the 21st Century.
The movie is well paced and well directed. The porn theme is handled creatively and tastefully. It is a full half way through the film that Hemingway's profession is revealed. I do have a problem with the every scene being overexposed by about 2/3 stops and seriously desaturated. It is a cinematographic technique that has its limits. There are a few continuity issues that should have been resolved in the editing process, but overall, this film is a poignant and sensitive view of life in L.A. in the 21st Century.