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Eleanor⁣ the Great: June⁢ Squibb Shines in Scarlett Johansson’s Directorial Debut

The Story: A Lie with Unexpected Consequences

There’s precisely one surprising moment in Scarlett Johansson’s feature directorial debut⁣ “Eleanor the Great,” written by Tory Kamen. It’s ⁢the impetus for the ⁣entire drama that unfolds in this film, and it feels genuinely risky – a taboo that‍ will be hard for this film⁢ to resolve. Yet, everything⁣ that unfolds around this moment is entirely predictable.

Also⁤ unsurprising? that star June Squibb‘s warm, humorous and slightly spiky performance elevates ⁢the wobbly material and tentative direction. If Johansson nails anything,it’s in allowing the 95-year-old squibb ⁢to shine in only her second starring role (the first being last year’s action-comedy “Thelma”). For any flaws or ⁢faults of “Eleanor the ‍Great” – and there are⁤ some – Squibb still might make‍ you cry, even if ⁢you don’t want to.

That’s‍ the good part about “Eleanor the Great,” which⁤ is⁣ a bit thin and treacly, despite ⁢its high-wire premise. The record-scratch startle that jump-starts the dramatic arc occurs when Eleanor (Squibb)⁣ is trying to figure out what to do with herself at a Manhattan Jewish‍ community center after recently relocating from Florida. Her lifelong best friend and later-in-life roommate Bessie (Rita Zohar) has recently died, so Eleanor has moved‍ in with her⁢ daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht), ⁢in New York City.

Harried Lisa sends Eleanor ⁤off to the JCC for ‍a choir class,but the impulsive and feisty nonagenarian pooh-poohs the Broadway singing and instead follows⁣ a pleasant face into a⁣ support group – for Holocaust ⁢survivors,she’s alarmed to discover. Yet put on the spot when thay ask her to share her story of survival, Eleanor shares Bessie’s personal history of escaping a Polish concentration camp instead, ⁢with horrific details she learned from her⁤ friend over sleepless nights of ‍tortured memories.

Eleanor’s lie could have been a small deception that played out over