What happens when a man loses his wife and, along with it, all the prospects of the family he wanted to start with her? In “Five Nights in Maine,” David Oyelowo renders a heartrending turn as a man who suddenly loses his wife in a fatal car crash. The most intense moment of the film is the dramatic irony in the beginning as the audience waits for Sherwin (David Oyelowo), who we see in the house he shares with his wife, doing mundane things – eating a banana, washing dishes, sifting through mail, to discover what we already know, that his wife is dead. “
Five Nights in Maine” presents little examined male perspective on grief. Whatsyourgrief.com has a list of 64 movies that deal with the subject matter of grief, and of that list (some titles include, “Steel Magnolias,” “Seven Pounds,” “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” “About Schmidt”…), practically none of the films deal specifically with a man grieving the loss of his wife. Typically, in films showing male grief, there is a sad woman alongside him, and together, they are grieving the loss of a child, for example. And subsequently, the movie revolves predominantly around challenges the loss presents to their relationship.
I once read that Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood’s most reliable stars. Well the same could easily be said of David Oyelowo, who consistently delivers compelling performances in each of his films. Interestingly, in Gyllenhaal’s 2015 release, “Demolition,” directed by Marc Valee, he also plays a man who loses his wife in a fatal car crash. This is an uncanny likeness of circumstances for these protagonists. The directors deserve accolades for exploring a side of grief that is not well-tread.
Oyelowo does as much justice as possible to “Five Nights in Maine” since the film is lacking in the transitions necessary to fully understand or identify with the characters, and likewise, suffers from underdevelopment of characters. Despite his acting chops, it is difficult to feel sympathy for him since we do not have the opportunity to learn much about his character. What we know of his relationship with his wife is told through intermittent flashbacks. During a flashback of a date night between the couple, we learn that he and his late wife Fiona (Hani Furstenberg) are at an impasse about having children. Sherwin wants to start a family and Fiona is concerned that she will naturally be the same kind of dysfunctional parent as her estranged mother, Lucinda (Diane Wiest).
When Fiona tragically dies in a fatal car accident, it is Oyelowo’s deeply believable portrait of grief that makes for some of the most powerful moments in the film. In one of the most impactful scenes, Sherwin has just gotten the call that his wife’s death and he struggles to find words in response to the officer’s obligatory and rote statements on the other end of the phone. In this few seconds we see a man who, despite his grief, wants to maintain a sense of dignity and propriety, and when he is unable to do this, he abruptly ends the call. In an authentic display of shock, he calls his wife’s phone to of course receive the outgoing voice recording, and it is heartbreaking to witness him realize that his wife is, indeed, gone forever. It isn’t long before Sherwin’s shock gives way to unadulterated grief, and the close-ups show a man in the throes of overwhelming waves of emotions that threaten to drown him.
The most oft used cinematographic device is the close-up, which I suppose is meant to reiterate the fact that the pain of losing a loved one is inescapable. It is all-consuming, claustrophobic, unrelenting, which is exactly how one could describe the dogged use of tight shots in the film. The viewer, along with Sherwin, is forced to get up close and personal with his grief.
When Sherwin arrives in Maine after a road trip from Atlanta, he and his mother-in-law, Lucinda, have a series of awkward dinners in which they refuse to acknowledge each other’s grief. However insensitive Lucinda is, Sherwin does his best through his sometimes blinding grief to help her nurse Ann (Rosie Perez) care for her. It does not take him long to discover the woman’s trademark abrasiveness, but he stays and takes advantage of an opportunity to feel closer to Fiona by proximity to the vestiges of her childhood.
The most successful aspect of “Five Nights in Maine” is its willingness to dwell on feelings that are often very uncomfortable for males to display, due to society’s constant urging our men to be strong and maintain an air of composure. The close-ups, however, are so abundant that they seem to lose their effectiveness halfway through the movie. Oyelowo’s performance is excellent, however I wish I cared more about the character and his relationship. This could have been possible had there been more attention given to character development. The death occurs too early in the film for the audience to have the emotional investment necessary to fully experience the impact of the tragic occurrence and the ensuing events.
FilmRise opens “Five Nights in Maine” theatrically in NYC and LA today, August 5th.
Nella Fitzgerald has her Master’s Degree in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA. She is an Independent Film Curator and Festival Programming Consultant. Her 10 year old daughter’s favorite film is “Citizen Kane.” She has spent the last year teaching Visual Analysis and yoga to elementary students at Roses in Concrete Community School in Oakland, CA. Find her on Twitter @Nellafitzz or read her blog at: Nelledejour.blogspot.com.
