In her last starring role, Jessica Tandy provides the spark that raises this bittersweet buddy movie from the sentimentality that threatens to overwhelm it at every turn.
Frustrated singer-songwriter Freda Lopez (Bridget Fonda) and insensitive husband Vince (Elias Koteas) head down to the Deep South for a vacation, renting a cottage from porn-film producer Harold Cara (Maury Chaykin), and thereby meeting his mother Camilla (Tandy). Harold offers Vince a job
helping to promote his films, leaving Freda and Camilla largely on their own. Freda is entranced by Camilla's stories of her grand past as a concert violinist, and persuades her to travel to Toronto's Winter Garden (where one of Camilla's greatest concert triumphs occurred) to hear a special
performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto.
They begin the long trip north without telling the men, and encounter a variety of adventures: their car rolls off a ferry into the river; they entertain the staff at a deserted hotel on an idyllic holiday island; they hitch a ride with self-styled record producer Hunt Weller (Graham Greene).
Weller turns out to be a con artist, and robs them, prompting Camilla to call Harold with certain instructions, pretending to have been kidnapped. While Harold and Vince are struggling to track them down, Camilla makes Freda take a detour to Niagara Falls, where she is reunited with her long-lost
love Ewald (Hume Cronyn), a violin-maker.
In Canada, Camilla finally performs the Brahms concerto, inspiring Freda with her determination. Although realizing that Camilla's past glory was considerably embroidered, Freda in turn determines to make a success of her career and her marriage.
The light and graceful presence of Jessica Tandy, along with the simplicity of this story, are the two main elements that keep CAMILLA delicately balanced between charming comedy and affecting pathos. An above-average script and solid ensemble acting provide a sturdy framework for the entirely
predictable turn of events; the pleasure in this unlikely buddy movie is in the development and interaction of the characters, not the unfolding of the plot. Fonda, in the less interesting role of the somewhat drippy Freda, nevertheless provides an attractive and ultimately sympathetic foil to
Tandy's Camilla.
The men don't count for much here (to be expected perhaps, since it's the women that drive this vehicle), representing various facets of the commercialization of art: sell-out Vince, who has gone from artist to adman; exploitative Harold, a crass porn-merchant; and con-man Weller, an out-and-out
sham; all three actors are excellent, if underused. Only Ewald (Cronyn), who has remained true to his art, can provide genuine romance (benefiting greatly, of course, from Cronyn and Tandy's real life relationship).
Although directed with a deft touch (by Deepa Mehta, whose remarkable 1991 feature debut was the Canadian film SAM AND ME), CAMILLA is not as successful as some other "odd couple" buddy movies. Fonda's character does become more engaging as the film progresses, but it's Tandy's vitality and
warmth that dominate the relationship (and the screen) from the beginning, making them less buddies, and more mentor/protege. (Adult situations.) leave a comment