It’s great to see Brian Cox, the heartless mogul at the center of HBO’s “Succession,” cast as an average Joe who’s irascible but kind at heart. In The Etruscan Smile, Cox plays Rory MacNeil, an aging Scottish widower who travels to San Francisco to seek medical care, necessitating a reunion with his estranged son Ian (JJ Feild, Ford v Ferrari), an aspiring chef. Ian is married to Emily (Thora Birch, American Beauty), a hospital administrator and daughter of a Trump-like mogul named Frank (Treat Williams). Rory quickly bonds with Ian’s infant son Jamie, manages to woo a museum curator named Claudia (Rosanna Arquette) and assists a San Francisco University professor (Peter Coyote) in a Gaelic language study — all while battling what turns out to be (surprise, surprise) a terminal illness.
There’s a lot going on in The Etruscan Smile, loosely based on the 1985 Spanish novel by José Luis Sampedro, and the film simply hasn’t the time or talent necessary to deal credibly with most of its subplots. With a rote screenplay (credited to five people), Israeli co-directors Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis (whose 2015 short film Aya was nominated for an Oscar) rely instead on their star-studded cast, allowing the combination of familiarity and acting talent to serve as shorthand when the writing can’t quite capture a scene or a character.
That’s especially true of Cox, who brings Rory fully to life and thereby enlivens the movie around him. The clichéd gambit of the crusty old person softened by the innocence of a child is the crux of The Etruscan Smile, and Cox sells it joyfully in every scene with the infant. Fans of the actor will enjoy him here, and the surrounding brigade of formerly-more-famous stars makes for a kind of comfort viewing for those who remember, say, the man with the jingling keys in E.T. or that other girl in Desperately Seeking Susan.
Now available to rent via grailmoviehouse.com
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