Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SHE CAME TO ME [Berlinale 2023 - Berlin, Germany]
The aspect of a muse and the necessities that create life's mysteries are the cornerstone of "She Came To Me" (Berlinale Special Gala), a sweet though at times meandering tome on the modern intersection of love, consequence and the notion of missed opportunities. The film follows an opera composer stuck in the rut of blockage (probably created of his own doing by his own psychosis) but one where the need for change becomes the inspiration of invention. Married to psychologist Patricia (Anne Hathaway), their predilection of a perfect life and equilibrium is swirled in an idea that perfection is attainable and present and yet both of them are miserable. In balance across town another family is intertwined with them through the romance of their kids but ]don't quite know it. Joanna Kulig is almost unrecognizable from her "Cold War" character but that essence brings so much more heartbreak when you see what her daughter (played by Harlow Jane, daughter of Thomas Jane and Patricia Arquette) sees in her essence of romance and its consequence. Things get skewed (to not give anything away) and forces an essence of reckoning.
Some of the characters and stories play well while others are more happenstance than others. The character that absolutely hits it out of the park while not losing her goofiness, heart and humor is Marisa Tomei, initially less recognizable (almost to the point that I might have thought it to be Annette Bening). This is obviously the best Tomei has been in a while but it is because she is not tethered as much and yet her character is part of the bigger world. There is a disconnection and connection at the same time that is bewitching about her character's trajectory . Her character in "My Cousin Vinny" had this to a differing degree. You saw glimpses of it in Aunt May but from the moment she brings Steven (Dinklage) back to her boat, that is the story to watch. She is luminous, which is interesting considering Anne Hathaway is playing a character actually further out there.
Some of the plot strands on that end are a little much but it does play with an interesting dichotomy of who are we and how do we want to be seen. Hathaway's detail work is beautiful but at times almost too left field for the movie despite the fact that this is a romantic comedy/drama (and an interesting companion piece for Dinklage's last film "Cyrano"). "She Came To Me" is not perfect and has many strands but strong performances spearheaded by Tomei give it a sense of knowing while still believing in love. B
By Tim Wassberg
