Starting Out in the Evening (2007) is excellent (certainly deserving of its 86% Fresh Tomatoes). It is the story of two odd couples—an old novelist and the engaging graduate student who is studying his work, and the novelist’s 40-year-old daughter and her love for the “wrong” man. It’s about the complexities of love. What makes this tried and true theme fresh is that in any given scene, you never know how things will turn out. Even though the swelling music suggests romance, it could be the start of a break up. When you think the author and grad student may have a May/December romance, it is not like that, and when you suspect she is manipulating him, she isn’t, she truly wants to figure out what makes her favourite writer tick, and she wants to advance her career in a cut-throat business—and who can blame her for that? While most of the acting kudos and nominations have gone to Frank Langella for his muted but powerful performance of the aging novelist, the other three actors have to be good enough to not look bad in comparison. Lauren Ambrose is brilliant as the adoring and prying grad student. Lili Taylor is so strong as the daughter that she can support the second story line.
Because the secondary theme of this movie concerns literature and the writing process, it helps if you are interested in, or familiar with, that.
This is the kind of serious mature movie I wish was more common.