NR | 1h 32m | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 2024
“People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” This is the opening line of a poem by Brian Chalker and perfectly describes what takes place within the frames of director Barbara Kulcsar’s splendidly angular and knowing “Golden Years.”
On the surface, “Golden Years” (penned by Petra Volpe) is a bouncy, slickly produced romantic comedy geared toward audiences already in or about to enter their golden years. This isn’t to say that the 25- to 50-year-old demographic won’t enjoy it or benefit from the many pearls of wisdom the movie tosses out like so many breadcrumbs along a trail. If they’re lucky and make it to retirement age intact, this group will recall why the two leads in this movie viewed their twilight years through different lenses.
A Needed Jolt
The story begins at a party for Alice’s just-retired husband, Peter (Stefan Kurt). The couple’s two adult children gift them a Mediterranean cruise, which thrills Alice to no end as she hopes a romantic getaway to exotic locales will provide a much-needed jolt to their waning love life. Peter’s reaction to the cruise is softly muted.Plans for the trip change shortly after the sudden passing of close family friend Magalie (Elvira Plüss). In literally her last breath, Magalie implores Alice to retrieve some hidden letters sent from her longtime French lover. Magalie doesn’t want her husband, Heinz (Ueli Jäggi), to stumble upon her secret, something that would only prolong, deepen, and sharpen his grief.
Magalie’s death also leads Peter (out of guilt and sympathy) to invite Heinz to join him and Alice on the cruise, and he is only half surprised when Heinz agrees. To put it mildly, this doesn’t sit well with Alice, who rightfully doesn’t want a third wheel horning in on her “second honeymoon.”
Break Away
Not quite ready to throw in the towel, Alice does her level best to get Peter to change course, all to no avail. When the ship docks in Marseille, she ditches Peter and Heinz on dry land and doesn’t return to the ship. She texts Peter stating that she “needs a break” and not to worry, which has the exact desired effect on him. He freaks out, has a panic attack or two, and becomes the lyric in a Joni Mitchell song: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”
We’re at the halfway point in the movie and the filmmakers make a detour of their own by turning the picture into a road flick. Alice’s attitude does a 180, and she is all the better for it. There’s a revived spring in her step—she takes in the local culture with relish and glee, and in the process, looks 10 years younger.
Eclectic Score
Propelled by an eclectic score by Carsten Meyer, the music ranges from 1960s-flavored South American bossa nova to 1980s dance electronica to World acoustic, and atmospheric ambient. It is executed with seamless ease, providing superb accent to the luscious imagery.
Although not included, the David Bowie song “Golden Years” would have been a perfect punctuation mark during the end credits. The lyrics closely resemble what’s going on with Alice.
Just how the filmmakers wrap everything up is also unexpected and brings the “reason, season, or lifetime” thing full circle. It is indeed possible to be in love with someone and come to the conclusion that you no longer want the same things.
Without giving anything away or misleading you, the reader, into thinking “Golden Years” is something it’s not, the movie concludes on an unmistakable up note, but again, not something one might expect.
It’s hard, if not impossible, to do anything new or original within the framework of the thread-worn romantic comedy genre, yet Ms. Kulcsar and Ms. Volpe manage to do so on multiple occasions with breezy effortlessness.
