Scrambled

Grade: B+

The main character of Scrambled notes that life is a long game of musical chairs. Do you ever feel like everyone got a chair except for you? I have, and so has she. Our heroine is Nellie. 34 years old. Recently single again. Frequently a bridesmaid, not yet a bride. One of the things the movie gets right is how it plays up our individual perception of the universe conspiring to remind us of how lonely we are, and our other shortcomings, by showing us the exact things we don’t want to see. For example, after a breakup, I suddenly noticed happy couples everywhere, almost as if they were rubbing it in. They were always there. I just didn’t SEE them until that particular period.

In Nellie’s case, it’s baby showers and engagement parties, with the sickeningly shiny happy people flaunting their perfect lives. With each passing day, her ticking biological clock is hanging over her head like Damocles. She compares reproductive parts to an avocado – there’s a very narrow and specific window where it’s absolutely perfect, then it doesn’t take long for it to turn brown. She borrows money from her brother to have her eggs frozen, and undergo all accompanying procedures, like self-administering injections, which she finds almost as difficult as abstaining from alcohol.

I don’t know where writer/director/star Leah McKendrick came from, but I’m so glad she’s on my map now. This is a star-making turn. She is a great comedic actress, touching in the serious parts, and courageous when it comes to showing her body. Nudity in film tends to have two categories: the sexy kind and “we’re showing you this because something medical or routine is happening.” Both are represented in Scrambled.

When you’re wearing multiple creative hats, one aspect is bound to not be as strong as others. Here, it’s the screenplay. It’s too cutesy, and often comes off as actors thinking “I can’t wait for ‘em to hear this line; it killed at the table read!” I doubt a doctor would tell a woman she’s pregnant, only to follow it up with a “just kidding,” and those family dinner conversations feel like everyone’s trying to win a one-liner contest – but I suppose this is all par for the course. The rest of the cast, mostly unknowns to me, is strong. Clancy Brown, from Pet Sematary Two and The Shawshank Redemption, seems to have aged into the resident dad role, who we mostly see at the dinner table, offering moral support. He previously did similar duties in Dumb Money and Promising Young Woman. I’d like to see him do more than just that, but regardless, he’s always a pleasure to see.

The soundtrack is one of the stronger ones I’ve heard – with fun, exciting, and appropriate needle-drops. Scrambled does a great job making everyone feel included, more so than Barbie and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Watching it, I never felt dismissed, dissed, or left out. I felt completely welcomed and invited into this story, which is funny, smart, wise, and poignant. It ends with the sunny side up.

Grade: B+