New York City. Nurse Judith separates from her husband, Dr. Nelson, after finding out he is cheating on her with another woman. Judith wants to become a pediatrician, but is currently just a wreck and unable to pulls herself together, until she befriends elevator operator Pat, whose daughter recently died and who has gambling debts. Judith also becomes friends with night club singer Liz, who gives her advice. Judith persuades Pat to start a business of importing Italian food to New York, but when he hints at wanting a relationship with her, Judith rejects him. Months later, she sees Pat singing in the night club and sitting at a table with another woman.
Situated somewhere as a more serious version of Brooks' "As Good as It Gets" and a gentler version of Solondz's "Happiness", "Living Out Loud" is a slice-of-life movie that does not build its foundation on a story, but rather on characters and and their little encounters, striving towards authenticity and humanity. Writer and director Richard LaGravenese has at times a wonderful sense for patient character development and understanding their flaws, while celebrating their compassion and empathy, and also a sense for good dialogues. The first third of the movie is the best, as it shows a tender approachment between Judith, who wanted to have kids but her ex-husband didn't, and Pat, who lost his daughter. They are played brilliantly by Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito, in a rare dramatic role. In one of the highlights, Pat sits with Judith and delivers a wonderful observation about his daughter who wanted to become a singer, which he also initially aspired to be when he was a kid: "It's really funny that things that are inside of you that never come out, and then they come out in your kids".
In another sequence, he also admits: "I have to love somebody". Judith also says a few impressive lines: "Funny what you can tell a stranger you can't tell people you know." The big flaw is that the second half of the movie feels aimless, not knowing what to do nor what direction to take. Furthering the relationship between Pat and Judith would have been a natural direction to take, but the movie unfortunately wastes too much time on Judith wandering across the city, solo, almost as if she is determined not to find some sort of a point in life. The ending thus feels unsatisfying and incomplete. The character of night club singer Liz is, for instance, uninteresting, and thus it is not quite clear why the movie dedicates so much time to her. Pat is thus left rather underused, which is a pity. Nontheless, "Living Out Loud" advocates for honesty and trying to live life to the fullest, showing how difficult it is to do so in an urban life full of neurosis, self-doubt and anxiety. One masterful sequence: Judith cannot sleep during the night in her apartment, so she turns on the TV, walks to the window, opens it and then jumps out of it. The TV news anchor is heard mentioning her death, as the camera then pans towards the right, back to Judith in bed, revealing it to be just her mental projection and state of mind.
Grade:++
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