To Leah McKendrick: writer, director, and star of “Scrambled,” my hat is off. The sheer energy and persistence it takes to pull off this type of Hollywood triple-threat feat, and get your feature film out there, is almost superhuman in scope. Not only does Ms. McKendrick pull it off, she does so with panache, wit, and reveals herself to be a rare type of comedienne, who, like the Sad Clown, when the funny tips over into the sad, is devastatingly tragic. Wonderful actress. You can expect to see a lot more of her.
‘Scrambled’
In this satire about Millennials with ticking biological clocks (a spiritual companion piece to the genre of Judd Apatow comedies “Trainwreck,” and “Bridesmaids”), Nellie (McKendrick) is the last one left standing in the Musical Chairs game of her life. All the ladies in her social circle have got themselves a husband, baby, or both. All except her.In Chinese culture, when a woman hits 27 and fails to secure this particular musical chair, she’s termed a “left-behind girl.” And so, left-behind Nellie attends all her friends’ baby showers and weddings, while her dad Richard (Clancy Brown) keeps goading her about when in the heck is he going to get some grandkids already?
The Body Count
Nellie naturally feels pressured to have someone in her life—husband, child, or both. The problems: 1) her only income is her unsuccessful Etsy jewelry business. Rising costs have rendered weddings and kids for those living paycheck-to-paycheck in America pretty much financially impossible.
And 3), she’s still grieving “The One That Got Away.” Actually, she broke up with him, because he wanted kids and she didn’t feel ready. But he felt like home. Now, he’s gone.
Is It Worth It?
The movie is definitely worth it, but I’m raising the question about actually using egg-freezing as a means of extending the time of dithering. I’m sure there are pros and cons. It all reminds me a bit of the 1960s’ Hanna Barbera cartoon “Wacky Races,” where the villain, Dick Dastardly, has a magnificent rocket-car that can win any race easily—if the fool would just get in it and drive the dang thing. But he spends all his time creating diversions for the other drivers, trying to make them lose, and he ends up losing, instead.
Here, also in the straight-man capacity—in this case, a successful mom and childhood friend of Nellie’s—Ms. Raphael’s character corners Nellie at a wedding party table where’s she’s of course drinking too much, and manhandles her like she’s a toddler:
“Tell me you’re not still making those stupid bracelets! How old are you? Please say 32, or 33 ... Nellie?”
“Whack!” She slaps Nellie across the face to get her to wake up to reality. The inebriated look of clueless toddler-acquiescence (mom knows best!) on McKendrick’s face is priceless.
Also, caught red-handed, peeping in the living room window of her ex and his pregnant wife, she falls down the stairs, hurts her hip, and splits her pants. She attempts to run away, but her ex comes out and asks her what she’s doing. “I don’t know.” Normally such a scene would be mostly funny. It is here too, but it’s equally tragic and tear-inducing. It’s a neat acting trick to be able to pull off both of these emotional extremes.
“Scrambled” marks a strong debut for McKendrick. There is a quiet sense of idealism and a fair amount of feminist attitude in Nellie’s non-committal lifestyle, and it would appear that McKendrick means to shine a light in the darkness; throwing despairing women a life-preserver via the cryogenic narrative. Which is in theory a benevolent gesture, since missing the musical chair is becoming more the norm than ever. But like I said, when it comes to science replacing God-given traditions, I remain skeptical.
“Scrambled” may not be how you like your eggs, but I can pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy “Scrambled,” the movie.
