"The Living" had the potential to shed light on such important social issues as family dysfunction and domestic abuse. But despite the good performances, the film lapsed into an extremely unpleasant experience with character excesses and implausible acts of violence.
The film never answers the question central to the most important relationship, the married couple of Teddy and Molly. In the opening scene, Teddy wakes up from a drunken stupor only to discover that he has administered a severe beating to Molly.
From that point forward, Teddy is contrite and is successful in winning back Molly's trust. But the filmmakers never explain what happened to trigger the domestic altercation. Multiple questions abound, such as why the incident was not reported to the police, the degree of Teddy's addiction to alcohol, his past incidents of abuse, and why the characters never have a truly serious conversation about the incident. The film suggests that Teddy had a complete blackout and was unable to remember anything about the abuse. If that were the case, he needed to see a wide range of medical practitioners and get into a counseling or rehab program.
There follows a preposterous subplot where Molly's brother Gordon hires a hit man to assassinate Teddy. Gordon travels from Pennsylvania to Mississippi to meet the killer and bring him back home to do the job. Along the way, the sadistic killer shoots a waitress in a diner after he has brutally assaulted a customer. Of course, there are no eyewitnesses in the diner, and Gordon and the hit man make a clean getaway.
Another strange character is Molly's mother, who tries to be protective of her daughter. But the mother also has a mean streak that comes out at the dinner table when Gordon is saying grace and asking for forgiveness. The mom cuts off the blessing in midstream and the nice dinner get together falls apart.
Nothing in this film moves in accordance with the rhythms of life in even most dysfunctional of households. It was especially the violence that was overwrought and led to one of the depressing film endings imaginable.
The film never answers the question central to the most important relationship, the married couple of Teddy and Molly. In the opening scene, Teddy wakes up from a drunken stupor only to discover that he has administered a severe beating to Molly.
From that point forward, Teddy is contrite and is successful in winning back Molly's trust. But the filmmakers never explain what happened to trigger the domestic altercation. Multiple questions abound, such as why the incident was not reported to the police, the degree of Teddy's addiction to alcohol, his past incidents of abuse, and why the characters never have a truly serious conversation about the incident. The film suggests that Teddy had a complete blackout and was unable to remember anything about the abuse. If that were the case, he needed to see a wide range of medical practitioners and get into a counseling or rehab program.
There follows a preposterous subplot where Molly's brother Gordon hires a hit man to assassinate Teddy. Gordon travels from Pennsylvania to Mississippi to meet the killer and bring him back home to do the job. Along the way, the sadistic killer shoots a waitress in a diner after he has brutally assaulted a customer. Of course, there are no eyewitnesses in the diner, and Gordon and the hit man make a clean getaway.
Another strange character is Molly's mother, who tries to be protective of her daughter. But the mother also has a mean streak that comes out at the dinner table when Gordon is saying grace and asking for forgiveness. The mom cuts off the blessing in midstream and the nice dinner get together falls apart.
Nothing in this film moves in accordance with the rhythms of life in even most dysfunctional of households. It was especially the violence that was overwrought and led to one of the depressing film endings imaginable.