It is fair to assume that I’ll Be Right There is a character study. We follow Edie Falco’s Wanda quite closely as she answers every literal beck and call that her mother, adult children, ex-husband, and lovers bid her to do. What we are actually watching is a pro playing preverbal tennis with whomever she is on-screen with.
Falco plays your average lower-middle-class mom, spending her nights bookkeeping for her boyfriend’s bar (Michael Rappaport) and her days shuffling around town for her kids and her mother. Her daughter, Sarah (Kayli Carter) is in her last week of pregnancy and is more than willing to boss everyone around her. Her son Mark (Charlie Tahan) is a recovering addict and compulsive liar who is struggling to figure out his next steps. Mother Grace (Jeannie Berlin) doesn’t let her mild cancer diagnosis keep her from using to guilt her daughter into picking her up from the casino or for late-night snack runs.
Wanda’s world revolves around the people she loves and so does her time. Jim Beggarly’s script takes place over three days and we see her try to handle the comedic foibles of those around her: her son getting arrested for squatting, her daughter complaining about her partner’s sex drive only for it to be revealed later that he feels like she will overact if he doesn’t find her desirable. The dialogue is smart and witty, I burst out into peels of laughter multiple times over the film’s 98 minutes.
Falco is easily the grounded heart of I’ll Be Right Back. While she rounds out the quirky characters around her, her dry and subtle delivery makes her just as compelling as anyone else onscreen. Falco is known for playing complex characters in The Sopranos, Law & Order True Crime, and Nurse Jackie, but as Wanda we get to see a softer, more domestic side. If you believed Pete Davidson’s short-lived Bupkis needed more Falco, this film is the perfect salve.
While I’ll Be Right There is Falco’s movie, Kayli Carter steals every scene she is in as Wanda’s overly pregnant and highly irrational daughter. Her delivery is perfect and easily keeps up with whomever she is onscreen with. Rounding out this group of women is the always-hilarious Jeannie Berlin who is just a delight to watch.
Besides a perfectly toned and placed score by James Righton and well-scouted scenery, there’s not much to Brendan Walsh’s direction. It’s the kind of vision you’d expect from a TV procedural director (Walsh also worked on Nurse Jackie with Falco). There’s no fancy camera work or trick shots. There’s something very streamlined about his direction and Aaron Medick’s cinematography. However, Walsh excels at letting every character, even if they only have one scene, have their moment to shine. From Geoffrey Owens popping up as Mark’s worn-out therapist to Jack Mulhern’s turn as Sarah’s bewildered yet well-meaning fiance, every single actor has a hilarious moment to play off of this stellar cast.
I’ll Be Right There is now playing in select theaters.
