Eleanor the Great Movie Review

Whether the character she plays is tooling around in her scooter trying to catch some bad guys (Thelma), giving her ex and her son a hard time (Nebraska), or telling Charlie, the grocery clerk, to “Go fetch” some not yet stocked items she knows are in the back, June Squibb is the actress to play the part. You’re going to love the effort. ​

The film “Nebraska” (2013) by Alexander Payne earned her the Best Supporting Actress nomination. Directed by Scarlett Johansson, “Eleanor the Great” may just be the one that wins her that Oscar. She was a delight to watch in both humorous and dramatic scenes; there are plenty of both. The film’s serious subject matter makes it difficult to laugh, but the humor the script offers is something only June could pull off.

Her character here is Eleanor, who retired to Florida with her now deceased husband. She has lived with her friend Bessie (Rita Zohar) for the last eleven years, and they’ve been very close. Bessie told her all about the Holocaust and how she survived. Bessie’s personal hell had always been being asked, “What was it like?” She never told anyone except for Eleanor about what she went through, not even her family, something she has come to regret keeping to herself.

Johannson handles all mentions of the Holocaust with delicacy, compassion, and competence. In fact, (spoiler) after Bessie passes, Eleanor wanders into a Holocaust survivors support group to get her friends story out there, liberating the truth of what Bessie went through, that were trapped inside her… and to let out the memories her friend wanted released.

In the group, she meets Nina (Erin Kellyman), a young student who takes to Eleanor’s speech, energy, and personality so well that she wants to interview her for her class. Every scene between these two is touching and sweet. Nina sees the worth inside Eleanor, regardless of the differences between them. Eleanor sees a new friend, whom she has an extreme lack of these days. They have both suffered tremendous losses in their lives, something they can help one another move beyond.

The dialogue and the scenes between the two are charming, yet you feel the pain neither is mentioning. Eleanor gives Nina advice throughout the film, such as, “You have to talk about the things that make you sad.” She doesn’t want Nina to find herself where she is in eighty years.

This movie is special. The acting is outstanding. The script is going to go through your heart in a piercing way, and the director, in her directorial debut, deals with unspeakable heartache in such a masterful way that when the end title credit shows up, you suck in air, knowing there is an end to Eleanor for you. You don’t want that. The shot of Eleanor sitting alone on an empty park bench gives you a sinking feeling. The end of the story is… worse. This is a beautiful film that you won’t want to miss. It’s fun, Squibb is lovely… it’s just what the doctor ordered.