Writer/director Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Friends with Money) brings us a drama about parenting, loss, and the consequences of our self-destructive behavior. Feeling trapped in the stifling, wealthy enclave of Westport, Connecticut, Anders Hill (Ben Mendelsohn) retires from his job in finance and leaves his wife (Edie Falco) in the hopes that it will renew his lust for life. However, he’s quickly faced with the startling reality of his choices; he spends his days looking for things to decorate his empty shelves, sleeping with strangers, and feeling terribly lost. Missing his ex-wife and on the outs with his troubled 27-year-old son (Thomas Mann), Anders befriends a drug-addicted teen (Charlie Tahan), sending him down a path of reckless and of deeply regrettable behavior. His shameful actions cause him to question who he is as a father and, ultimately, who he is as a person. Adapting her screenplay from Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel, The Land of Steady Habits also stars Connie Britton, Elizabeth Marvel, Bill Camp and Charlie Tahan.
Join us for a post-screening Q&A between JBFC Board President Janet Maslin and writer/director Nicole Holofcener, a rare opportunity to bring critic and filmmaker together since Janet reviewed Nicole’s debut feature Walking and Talking in 1996. In 2011, Nicole reflected on the film’s release, “we tore [The New York Times] open and Janet Maslin had given it a positive review. We shrieked. I was so relieved, and elated” (Indiewire).
