Tuesday-Daina Oniunas-Pusic

Tuesday is Julia Louis-Dreyfus's latest attempt at shedding the cloak of Elaine Bennes. A very drastic departure from anything else I have seen her in before. Was she successful in doing so with the oddball duel against death? It's tough to say. I did not mind how far the parameters of rationality were pushed and understood what the director was attempting to accomplish. But—based on the multiple people walking out in the middle of the movie and the lack of even mere whispers in its wake—the general public was not having it. Tuesday tells the story of a 15-year-old wheelchair-bound girl (Lola Petticrew) who plays the titular character who is slowly passing away from a terminal illness. One day while hanging out on her patio a small macaw lands on her hand and she immediately recognizes the macaw for what it is: death. Or, the grim reaper, disguised as a bird. Instead of instantly breathing its wrath into Tuesday's nostrils to whisk her away into the next life the bird is taken by the girls' charms of an amusing joke and they form a temporary bond. Eventually, Tuesday's mother, Zora (JLJ), comes home and upon seeing the bird tries to destroy it. Tuesday defends the macaw and convinces Zora to leave it alone. After Tuesday falls asleep Zora corners the bird outside, douses it with gasoline, sets it ablaze, smashes it with a book, and then eats it. With death now confined and unable to perform its duty people (and animals) across the land are now wandering as lost zombies. Often mutilated. Zora decides to take over for death and walks around with Tuesday strapped to her shoulders and performing the last rights which are the obligation of the macaw. This serves only to be a fading antidote to Zora's denial of Tuesday's demise as her breathing becomes more and more labored which forces her to confront the fact that death is life's equivalent of birth—in that everyone experiences it and resurrects the bird via regurgitation. After she says goodbye to Tuesday, Zora falls into a mental fog and a month later is visited by the bird to see how she is doing. They have a dialog about mortality and then the film ends fairly abruptly. I have always loved Julia Louise Dreyfus as Elaine Benes and found her undertakings post-Seinfeld to largely be better than any of the other main characters on the show. Michael Richards has only his stand-up meltdown to cling to, Jason Alexander has done nothing aside from short stints on Curb, and Seinfeld seems to enjoy stand-up more so than the big screen. Julia has ventured out and had some success in shows like Veep but the feature films have been less than inspiring. Granted this is only her second film I have seen (the other being You Hurt My Feelings) but it still left a lot to be desired. I couldn't stand You Hurt My Feelings, but Tuesday was at least a bit more tolerable and I commend anyone willing to take such a sharp risk in their career by performing a character that is so unlike the comedic persona she is known for. Tuesday though was very ambiguous in its storytelling and seemed a bit addled at parts. The obvious inspiration of both The Ballad of Narayama (Zora's ubasute of Tuesday) and Jose Saramago's Death With Interruptions did not go unnoticed, but unlike both of those tremendous works of art, Tuesday lacked any sort of power chord to elevate it beyond morbidly-sketchy art. It is tough to put a finger on this one as to whether or not it had any value so I'll have to resolve to trust my intuition in that I have no desire to see it again and recommend passing. Close, but no cigar.

Stars: **1/2

Verdict: Pass