'Lady of the Manor' brings back the benign-teenth century
Lionsgate
Justin Long is an actor of underrated, freewheeling charm. From his breakout role on NBC’s “Ed” (put this on streaming now!) to the winning romantic comedy “Going the Distance” to bit parts on “New Girl” or “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” he turns goofy, absurd, or sheepishly nerdy into something endearing that might grate in lesser hands.
So it’s more than a little disappointing that “Lady of the Manor,” which Long wrote and directed with his brother Christian (who appears on Long’s entertaining interview podcast “Life is Short”), appears so unwilling to let loose. Part of that is the obvious room to grow as a director and writer (individual lines are so, so much better than the narrative they support). It’s also a misguided approach to the material, an awkward mix of 21st century slacker humor and 19th century propriety. Too funny to be a disaster and too amateur to be within four states of good, “Lady of the Manor” proves that a comedy can make you laugh consistently enough and still be quite bad.
Melanie Lynskey (“Don’t Look Up”) stars as Hannah, who becomes the tour guide at the historic Wadsworth Manor in Savannah, Georgia, as the result of Tanner Wadsworth (Ryan Phillippe) being an indifferent, shady moron and the script leaning into ridiculous contrivance whenever possible. Hannah likes to get high and fart and masturbate, none of which sits well with the ghost of Lady Wadsworth (Judy Greer), who appears to teach the new, very uninformed guide some facts about the house and some strategies for being a lady. Meanwhile, Hannah gets Lady Wadsworth to lighten up and make some silly faces!
This is both nice and a problem, as Lynskey and Greer are so appealing that everyone should be on board with watching them mug at each other but also that the movie plays way too nice with almost everyone. Besides for Tanner, “Lady of the Manor” suffers from critical blandness, especially after Hannah’s meeting and absurd, progressing friendship with college professor/historian Max (Long). Throughout, as we see awkward framing and flat staging and a general feeling that this is more a presentation of likable people hanging out than a product that is ready for consumption, the film continually revives itself with cheerful asides, like Hannah’s surprise that Lady Wadsworth, who is able to appear anywhere, has all along chosen to only appear in the titular home.
Phillippe may have worked as a straight man in “Macgruber” but needs more seasoned filmmakers to guide him than he gets here, and “Lady of the Manor” really struggles when it deals with fiendish maneuvers informed by race and ownership of property. It opens boxes it doesn’t really want to look into (also sidelining its non-white characters to minimal roles) while struggling to find the unfindable tone that would get laughs out of a running gag about being unjustly accused of being a sex offender.
So yeah. One of those movies that has its moments, but good luck trying to remember what they are when the thing is over.
C-
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