THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY : THEM (2014) *** 1/2 James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Ciaran Hinds, Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt, Nina Arianda. First a quick note: filmmaker Ned Benson (who also wrote the screenplay) shot two separate versions of RIGBY (subtitled HIM & HER) in the POVs of his principals in the same story ---- a young married couple experiences a grave personal loss which results in the flight of its titular lead (Chastain in a sublime turn of highs and lows) and fight in her husband (McAvoy is equally wonderful) who more-or-less accepts the crumbling of his marriage, as well as his unstable career as a restaurateur in New York. Benson allows plenty of room for his actors to breathe and some juicy moments with an excellent ensemble of talent including an exceedingly low-key and wise Hurt and slightly off-beat bohemian bent by Huppert as Chastain's Connecticut ensconced parents and Davis as her dry, world-weary arts studies instructor. Colors of grief have never been so succinct and does not betray the theme: love conquers all but nearly dies in the process. Benson has some nice subtle moments of hammering the them thru (look sharply for a slightly out-of-focus background shot of a tag-art/graffiti message summing up the film as a whole.
