Mass

Grade: A-

I am not in a hurry to see Mass again anytime soon, but I really think you should. It’s one of those movies – uncomfortable and difficult to sit through, but wonderful, and I want as many people as possible to see it. I felt the same way about Pieces of a Woman last year, and The Impossible in 2012. Mass, I will say, did make me hop on Hulu and watch a Family Guy afterwards, to lighten things up.

I knew the plot summary beforehand, and that added to my nervous, anxious anticipation in the opening scenes. The parents of a child killed in a school shooting have agreed to meet up with the parents of the shooter, in a downstairs room of an Episcopal church. 40-year-old Fran Kranz, amazingly, makes his feature film debut as writer/director of Mass, though his extensive acting filmography includes Donnie Darko, Training Day, Orange County, Matchstick Men, and Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. Mass feels like a play, and I’d love to see it on stage, if you have performers who can emotionally go there a handful of nights a week.

In the film, these 4 actors are up to the task. Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton are the parents of Evan, one of the victims. Ann Dowd and Reed Birney are the parents of Hayden, the shooter. I found myself…not rooting for, but identifying and empathizing with all 4 characters. I got around to being on all of their sides at different points. My “favorite” was Birney. He was very interesting to watch. He could come across as frosty and detached, and would speak so matter-of-factly about everything, but he is not without remorse, sympathy, or other emotions. This just may be the way he processes. And he has one of the most chilling lines, when he points out “The world mourned 10. [My wife and I] mourned 11.”

Martha Plimpton is a veteran of several cult classics in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, like The Goonies, The Mosquito Coast, Parenthood, Pecker, and 200 Cigarettes. You’ve probably seen her. She is captivating and heartbreaking here. But really, an Oscar nomination for any of these 4 actors would feel right.

The biggest, and possibly only misstep is the ambiguity of Hayden’s fate, and exactly what happened to him. I rewound several times and listened closely to the dialogue, and I think I understand, but I could have used more clarity with the details. However, one could argue this was intentional. We are thrust into the situation without 100% knowledge of what’s going on, just as they were that day. Perhaps the filmmakers wanted us to share in their disorientation, but either way, it was frustrating.

There is a curious and unexpected sweetness, beauty, and hope at the end. Plimpton says she doesn’t want Evan’s death to be in vain. She made a promise to herself and him that something beneficial would come of this. Mass is one of the best movies of the year. Through speaking with that other couple face to face, it begins a step towards healing, and the possibility she can make good on that promise.

Grade: A-