Ned Benson’s somber, artfully made meditation on a modern marriage, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” encompasses many things. It’s about regret, impulse decisions, second chances, fresh starts, reconnecting, uncertainty and drifting in and out of love.
It takes place during the fallout of the separation between the young, married couple Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) and Conor (James McAvoy). Benson handles the movie and its many ideas in a mature and honest way. I just wish I could have first seen it the way Benson originally envisioned it.
When it premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, it was presented as two movies, each one told from the perspective of Eleanor or Conor (called “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him/Her”). The version being released theatrically is a combination of the two, given the subtitle “Them.” Even though this version is a quality piece of work, watching two different movies —featuring different character perspectives on the same story — would have been a much more interesting and unique movie-watching experience.
The movie opens on a happier time in the marriage. Conor and Eleanor, young and in love, are in a restaurant. Conor can’t pay the tab so they dash out the door and collapse onto the lawn of park together, making out.
Then, suddenly, in the next scene Eleanor, speechless and looking emotionally drained, tries to take her own life. The rest of the movie plays out as a sort of mystery: What led to Eleanor’s attempted suicide? Why is she avoiding all contact with Conor?
Benson’s picture shifts perspectives back and forth between the two. We see Eleanor move back in with her parents, cut off all contact with Conor, start taking college classes again and reconnect with her family. Immediately, we feel sympathy toward her.
In Conor’s first scene, he gets into a fight with an obnoxious customer at his restaurant; he looks flustered and appears to have a short fuse. Not only that, his restaurant is about to go out of business, and he has too much pride to take over one of his dad’s (played by Ciaran Hinds) places.
However, as the movie goes on and as we see more of his daily life, he doesn’t come off as a bad guy or an abuser but, instead, confused.
The few times they do interact with each other — when he follows her to one of her classes, or when they take a mini road trip — Eleanor clearly isn’t scared or repulsed by him, and Conor is sensitive and non-hostile.
Benson doesn’t make us take sides in the relationship; each character is equally developed, and both have their positive and negative virtues. In the end, these are just two uncertain people, uncertain for different reasons.
Both Chastain and McAvoy give unassuming performances. They’re quiet and not showy. Conor and Eleanor are essentially an “every couple,” so McAvoy and Chastain play them low-key and down-to-earth. The supporting actors are also good, particularly Viola Davis as Eleanor’s wise, no-nonsense psychology professor who sort of becomes her life advisor.
Despite these numerous positive traits I still wish I could have seen the “Him/Her” movies first. When it comes to marketing and theatrical releases, it’s not ideal to release two movies telling the same story from two different angles, but it would have been a far more innovative and refreshing way to explore Eleanor and Conor’s relationship.
“The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them” is a well-made film; everything feels visually very intricate and planned out, yet still authentic. Most of the shots last for two minutes or more, letting the emotions in each scene play out gradually and organically. The pacing can be a little slow at times, though it builds to an ambiguously satisfying ending.
Yet, while watching the movie, I couldn’t help but be reminded of how I should have seen Eleanor and Conor’s story first.