Alzheimer’s is an insidious disease, slowly robbing the afflicted—and their families—of memories and milestones. Michael Maren’s feature film directing debut, A Short History of Decay, takes an oblique look at the disease, couching it within a story of a 30-something finally forced to grow up—sort of. Maren’s subtle touch, complemented by moments of drama and humor in this loosely plotted story, keeps the film from falling into the Lifetime movie of the week territory.
Nathan Fisher (Bryan Greenberg of HBO’s How To Make It in America) is a 35-year-old Brooklyn-based screenwriter/novelist/playwright who’s never finished one of his projects, much to the displeasure of his live-in girlfriend, Erika (Emmanuelle Chriqui). Nathan is a self-absorbed man-child who’s living the cliché: He spends his days writing in various coffee shops, taking movie breaks at the Angelika and looking up random facts on the Internet. (Procrastination is the mark of any true writer.)
When Nathan’s first introduced, he’s looking up the benefits of his Turmeric supplements as brain boosters, foreshadowing the film’s theme. He’s too busy with his “research” to notice that Erika is unhappy, so he’s blindsided when she announces that she’s met someone else—and dumps him. Since life sometimes has a wicked sense of humor and a bad sense of timing, Nathan gets a call from his brother, Jack (Benjamin King), telling him that their father’s in the hospital, recovering from a stroke.
Though still reeling from his breakup, Nathan immediately heads down to Florida to be with his mom, Sandy (Linda Lavin), while his dad Bob (Harris Yulin) recuperates. Despite his father’s immediate health crisis, both parents are clearly infirm, as Sandy’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The film also documents the interesting phenomenon that usually happens when adult children, especially the unmarried ones, return home to visit their parents—they revert back to their teen years, sleeping in twin beds, looking to siphon their parents alcohol stores and counting the days until they leave home.
While in Florida, Nathan continues to obsess over Erika, and whether she’s already sleeping with the new guy. (He asked her not to before he left New York, since his parents’ illnesses have tapped out his emotional capacity.) It’s a sort of a double-standard, since it doesn’t stop him from flirting and asking out other women like Alex (Rebecca Dayan), a young divorcee who spends her time reading and traveling thanks to a generous alimony package. He also meets Shelly (Kathleen Rose Perkins), his mother’s manicurist, who seems to know—and care—a lot about his parents.
Maren’s slice-of-life story picks up steam with the arrival of Jack, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist, whose life on paper (wife, two daughters and power job) looks so much better than Nathan’s. The two brothers are forced to look beyond the their self-centered lives, learning from their parents, whose lives are more together than theirs, despite their afflictions. There’s good chemistry here between Greenberg and King as brothers who’ll never stop competing with each other, be it with golf or girls.
The film flourishes when it moves away from a coming-of-age story to a more family ensemble piece. Despite Greenberg’s charms, it’s hard to root for Nathan, who’s an immature leading character. While Erika is painted as an ambitious girlfriend in the film, she’s getting a raw deal. What’s wrong with a woman being ambitious or wanting something more from her partner than five years of writing unfinished works at home? She’s clearly the couple’s breadwinner and finally wants Nathan to pull his own weight at home.
Nathan’s other relationships with women are also superficial. The Alex storyline goes nowhere; and although the audience is supposed to root for him and Shelly, Maren doesn’t flesh out the manicurist’s character enough. She’s likable, and treats Nathan’s parents and her other clients well, but that’s all we know, making it hard for the audience to invest emotionally in the relationship.
Lavin and Yulin turn out to be A Short History of Decay’s power couple. Though he’s a grumpy, stubborn old man of little words, he loves his wife dearly, and Lavin gives a realistic performance as someone who’s trying to hold onto her memories while she can. Their characters know they’re both up against the clock, and indirectly show their sons that even life’s most difficult moments matter.
Maren does a commendable job of filming the family talking about (or avoiding) the difficult conversations on long-term care, assisted living and hospitalizations. His dialogue never gets over-the-top or too preachy; likewise, the camera remains unobtrusive, merely there to document Nathan’s and his family’s interactions. While nothing is “solved” by the end of the film, there is hope that Nathan has taken his first real steps into adulthood.
Christine N. Ziemba is a Los Angeles-based pop culture writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow her on Twitter.
Director: Michael Maren
Writer: Michael Maren
Starring: Bryan Greenberg, Linda Lavin, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Benjamin King, Emmanuelle Chriqui
Release Date: May 16, 2014