(2.5 stars)
Joan is in a pickle. A delicious pickle. The sort of pickle so tangy and crisp, it’s everything you could have ever dreamed of. But a pickle nonetheless.
You see, Joan is dead. After succumbing to cancer in her old age, the retired librarian wakes up in a bustling train station where a suited-up “afterlife coordinator” informs her she can catch a ride to the eternity of her choosing. Salespeople stand in expo booths all around the station and pitch their versions of heaven to the recently departed. Does Joan want to spend all of perpetuity snorting cocaine at a re-creation of Studio 54? Might she consider Cigarette World, where she can chain-smoke forever because the dang things can’t kill you twice? Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to make it into one of the Man Free Worlds even if she wanted, because the latest iteration is already at capacity. Classic.
That isn’t the issue. In fact, she finds herself in opposite circumstances: Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) — who appears as she did at the happiest point in her life, landing somewhere in her 20s or 30s — has to pick between two beautiful men vying to join her in her selected afterlife. There’s Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband, who died serving in the Korean War and has been waiting patiently for her ever since. And then there’s Larry (Miles Teller), her equally devoted second husband and the father of her children, who crossed over shortly before Joan by choking on some pretzels.
Now you understand the pickle. Some people have nice problems — even when they’re dead.
“Eternity,” which marks Irish director David Freyne’s first American production, is a sweet and amusing yet ultimately flimsy exploration of long-lost love and meaningful companionship. It arrives amid a dearth of theatrical romantic comedies; streamers have monopolized the genre, which means the modern rom-com often adopts the bland visual aesthetic of straight-to-small-screen fare. While Freyne and co-writer Pat Cunnane craft a love-triangle plot that wears thin, it at least unfolds in a refreshingly cinematic world, as vibrant as the talented cast’s performances.
Much like the characters in this film, looks are what “Eternity” has going most for it. Freyne and production designer Zazu Myers summon nostalgia through their set’s mid-century color palette and structural design. The heart of the Junction, as the train station setting is called, is a brutalist atrium with rounded walls that your eyes could keep tracing, well, forever. Rust-colored carpeting covers part of the atrium’s stone-gray floor, which contrasts with bright yellow accents throughout. Oscar-winning costume designer Angus Strathie (“Moulin Rouge!”) outfits the principal cast in charming vintage garments.
The Junction exudes otherworldliness. Cinematographer Ruairi O’Brien used anamorphic lenses to shoot the afterlife scenes, delivering expanded images that make it feel like we’re experiencing this new plane through Joan’s incredulously widened eyes. Olsen plays up her character’s fretful distress, but Freyne is careful not to direct his actors toward complete melodrama. Teller, who somehow convinces us that Larry is a bit of a schlub, nails the delivery of each spiteful insult muttered toward his dashing romantic competition. Turner humanizes the seemingly perfect Luke with a sense of wistful envy.
Despite the narrative importance of this central love triangle, the standout performance belongs to Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), who plays Larry’s afterlife coordinator, Anna. She is witty and charismatic, poking fun at Larry’s misery as an older sister would. But there’s also a knowing wisdom to her measured tone, a grounded acknowledgment of the purgatory that is existing between life and an unknown eternity. When Anna explains the mechanics of the Junction to Larry — and, therefore, to the audience — you can’t help but feel held by her warm, welcoming nature.
Those introductory scenes are the best in the movie, and not just because Anna and her colleague Ryan (John Early) make a fantastic comedic duo. Freyne is a masterful world-builder. He invites his audience to a fictional realm that might remind viewers of the NBC sitcom “The Good Place,” in which dead people are sent to one of two afterlives — either a secular heaven or hell, basically — based on the morality of their behavior on Earth. But whereas “The Good Place” creator Michael Schur went a step further on his TV show by offering substantial philosophical contemplations of life and death, the feature-length “Eternity” devotes far less time to these weightier questions.
The film fails to examine the fear of regret underlying Joan’s agony; despite Olsen’s best efforts, the character barely rises above an excuse for her suitors to trade cheeky barbs, which makes it difficult to stay invested in her romantic dilemma. “Eternity” might start out strong, but its plot eventually runs out of steam.
PG-13. At area theaters. Contains sexual content and strong language. 112 minutes.
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