Sherwin is reeling with the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Fiona. Out of sorts and in excruciating pain, he somehow consents to visit his estranged mother-in-law in Maine. Lucinda is also grieving her daughter, but their estrangement layers loss with guilt – and suspicion.
Sherwin (David Oyelowo) and Lucinda (Dianne Wiest) knock about in her rural home with only her nurse Ann (Rosie Perez) between them. Lucinda is sick and in a lot of physical pain but she’s not too sick to still be kind of a bitch. The last time she saw her daughter they fought, as usual, and parted badly, both assuming for the last time, and of course it was, only it was daughter who died, and not the ailing mother.
Oyelowo and Wiest give great performances. Wiest is icily fantastic, full of venom and sharp edges. You kind of want to slap her across the face, even if she is a cancer-ridden old lady. But hiring a talented cast is about all this film gets right. I don’t mind some negative space but here the script is thin, the story plotless. It might have made an interesting character study if the dialogue wasn’t so sparse. We start out knowing very little but don’t attain a whole lot of clarity over the course of our Five Nights In Maine. I wish I had kinder words for a film that dares to tackle a dark subject, but this felt slow and sluggish and ultimately empty.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I really like Oyelowo so that’s disappointing to hear this movie isn’t better.
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A shame it doesn’t make the most of what it could be.
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Oh I wish this would be a better movie. Funny it is either a gem or a drag and it all depends on the writing and the direction
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That’s too bad. I always enjoying watching Dianne Wiest. She’s on a sitcom called “Life in Pieces.” I watched the first season on Netflix and laughed so much my sons thought I was losing it. ‘Course, they might be right…
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That’s a bummer. 😦
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Not big on conflict for conflict’s sake. Do they at least reach some sort of understanding? If not, this is a pass.
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You have to wonder what draws folks to scripts like this, huh? Perhaps they feel there’ll be a chance to tell more when the movie gets going. Anyhoo, I’ll give this one a miss.
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Great review
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I’m a fan of Wiest so I’ll likely end up seeing it. I love her on the TV show Life in Pieces (amongst other roles)
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