'Eleanor the Great' Follows 94-year-old's Misadventures

"Eleanor the Great" tells the story of the witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein.

Eleanor Morgenstein has always stayed engaged and connected to the people around her. So, after a devastating loss, she relocates from Florida to New York City to live with her daughter and grandson, hoping to reconnect with her family.

Instead, she feels even more adrift and invisible. One day, she unknowingly wanders into a support group where she doesn't quite belong, only to reveal a story that unwittingly brings her a level of attention she did not intend.

Eleanor finds herself caught up in the enlivening consequences as a young journalism student pursues her as a friend and mentor. When things go too far, Eleanor must confront the truth.

In her directorial debut, Scarlett Johansson brings together themes of aging, family, loss and what constitutes deceit, as this story of friendship and history turns into a profound tale of complicated humanity.

Set in contemporary Manhattan, the film is reminiscent of those classic New York comedies of people vying to remake their lives in the city. Yet it breaks the mold with its title character, a stubbornly vibrant 90-year-old woman who transforms the greatest loss of her life into a last chance to share a story of hope. There's just one rather unsettling problem: the amazing story she shares isn't hers to tell.

At the film's center is a multi-faceted performance from Oscar-nominated June Squibb, herself a nonagenarian who captures not only Eleanor Morgenstein's mischievousness and missteps but equally her wish to be seen, to mean something, to make a mark on someone's life, just as someone else made an indelible mark on hers.

What emerges from Squibb's performance, and a multi-generational ensemble that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Erin Kellyman and Jessica Hecht, is a funny and emotional tale about some serious issues: the vitality of both family and forged connections, the wonders and perils of understanding others, the power of storytelling as a reminder of our cultural histories.

"The story of 'Eleanor the Great' is about a mistake, but it is really a woman's journey to find herself," said Squibb. "It just so happens that it's a 90-year-old woman who is trying to find out who she is, what she wants, and where she hopes to go in life."

The film's roots lay in screenwriter Tory Kamen's own family history. Kamen's grandmother never had the chutzpah to retell a friend's life story as fictional Eleanor Morgenstein does.but she did make a dizzying cross-country move from Florida to Manhattan at the tender age of 95.

Watching her grandmother intrepidly confront the loneliness and invisibility of starting her life anew at an age when many avenues typically come to a close, Kamen pondered the challenge of writing a film with a 90-something lead, one as comedic and lost and searching as any teenager.

Indeed, Eleanor's new confidante, and her only anchor amid her turbulent return to New York, is the 19-year-old student journalist, Nina.

It is Nina, whose own family has been jolted by loss and change, who helps Eleanor to right her unravelling wrongs - turning the story into an ode to friendship that transcends generational gaps.

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