Jimpa review – Olivia Colman and John Lithgow show up for indulgent queer family drama
Sophie Hyde’s semi-autobiographical tale about sexual identity and intergenerational dynamics falls flat, but is buoyed by Colman and Lithgow’s committed performances
Jimpa review – Olivia Colman and John Lithgow show up for indulgent queer family drama
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Sophie Hyde has directed an earnestly intended but very indulgent film, somewhere between autobiography and autofiction; it blandly congratulates itself on its sensitivity and cathartic honesty, but is without the spark of her 2019 quarterlifecrisis comedy Animals. When the teen female lead takes soulful photos on a hipstery disposable roll-film camera instead of on a smartphone like anyone else, it is frankly a little bit insufferable. Yet there are focused and committed performances from Olivia Colman and John Lithgow.
Adelaide-based film-maker Hannah (Colman), based on Hyde, goes on a trip to Amsterdam with her smiley husband and non-binary child Frances, played by Hyde’s own child Aud Mason-Hyde; this is to visit Hannah’s charismatic, brilliant and impossibly life-affirming father, Jim (Lithgow), adorably calledJimpa. He is a man who came out as gay to his wife and daughters in the early 70s and left them to live in Amsterdam as a radical lecturer and campaigner on issues such as housing and HIV.
Frances idolises Jimpa as a queer role model but he is more cantankerous than expected – dismissing queer and bi as evasive, insipid terms that undermine the rights for which his generation fought. In fact, this salty argument is the one moment where the film threatens to come to life, in so doing negating Hannah’s own placid belief that her film can be achieved without conflict, instead celebrating “kindness”. It’s not clear how intentional this obvious irony is supposed to be. The coming-of-age parts of the film centred on Frances work a little better, but for all that, and despite Lithgow and Colman’s commitment, this is very uncertain.
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