The Sleepy Time Gal

A synopsis sounds like grist for the Lifetime Channel: a middle-aged woman diagnosed with cancer attempts to reconcile with her family. But like Charlotte Rampling in Under the Sand, Jacqueline Bisset here gives a moving performance that elevates the film and ranks with the best of her career, bringing Frances--a free-spirited woman with an eclectic array of character quirks (a former late-night DJ, social activist, and a Revolutionary War buff)--vividly to life. "What is life but…missed chances?" she asks in this film about last chances to connect. Of her three children, one son communicates only by phone, another son (Nick Stahl, the ill-fated son from In the Bedroom) feels estranged but dutifully tends to his mother, while the third is a daughter (Martha Plimpton) whom Frances gave up for adoption and now wants to find. Veteran character actor Seymour Cassel makes an indelible impression as Frances's former lover, now happily married, whom she visits. Directed with unsentimental restraint by Christopher Münch, this semi-autobiographical character study based on his own mother is not the happiest film on the block, but Bisset's performance shines throughout. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Christopher Munch and costar Jacqueline Bisset, a two-minute “Afterthought” featurette with Jacqueline Bisset, 12 minutes of deleted scenes, “Snapshot Diaries” from the Sundance Film Festival, a DVD-ROM weblink, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an affecting film.] (K. Lee Benson)