Susan (Michaela Watkins, left) reluctantly takes in her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Gage (Charlie Gillespie), in Suze.
By Richard Ades
Are you looking for a way to show your love for our neighbors to the north? Do you want to make it up to them for our president’s threats to either absorb them or tax them into oblivion?
Well, now you can, thanks to the new Canadian flick Suze. Written and directed by filmmaking spouses Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, it’s an offbeat comedy with a Yukon-sized heart.
Title character Susan (Michaela Watkins) is a mid-level manager and mom who left her husband after finding him sharing bodily fluids with another woman. Fast forward five years, and she now has two new problems: the unwelcome arrival of perimenopause and the impending departure of her college-bound daughter, Brooke (Sara Waisglass).
Oh, and one more: Susan can’t stand Brooke’s himbo-esque boyfriend, Gage (Charlie Gillespie), because he’s not bound for college, has no prospects and therefore seems unworthy of her beloved offspring. As a result, Susan urges Brooke to drop him as soon as possible.
A few weeks go by, during which Susan has trouble concentrating at work because she’s frantic to get news from her absent and stubbornly uncommunicative daughter. Then, she finally gets news, but it’s from a surprising source—Gage’s father, Rick (Aaron Ashmore), who tells her his son injured himself jumping off a water tower because Brooke sent him a “Dear John” text.
Rick clearly blames Susan’s daughter for what happened and figures that entitles him to a big ask: Can Susan watch his distraught and possibly suicidal son for a few weeks while his work takes him out of town? Motivated by either guilt or just common decency, Susan reluctantly agrees and opens her home to the volatile teen who still pines for her daughter.
So what happens next? After putting a lonely, middle-aged woman and a hunky, lovesick youth under the same roof, there’s an obvious way this story could have gone. Fortunately for us, Clark and Stewart take a more interesting tack by focusing on the fact that these two vulnerable people have one thing in common: They both love and miss the same person.
That’s not to say Suze never takes the obvious road. Waisglass’s Brooke and Ashmore’s Rick come across rather heavy-handedly as a spoiled brat and distant dad, respectively. And some scenes seem a little familiar, including one that could have been copied from a recent Jennifer Lawrence comedy (though it probably wasn’t).
But as long as the spotlight remains on the two central characters, none of that matters. Gillespie is often hilarious and always lovable as the outgoing Gage, while Watkins holds onto our sympathy even when Susan’s maternalistic needs lead her into cringe-worthy excesses.
Thanks to a sensitive script and these two wonderful leads, Suze is a treat. It might not take you where you expect to go, but once you get there, you’ll be glad you made the trip.
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Suze (no MPA rating) opens Feb. 7 in theaters and on demand.
Reel Time With Richard Ades 