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“Lorelei” is heartwarming yet awkward just like its protagonists who are at a stage where they’re not too old to forget things, yet too young to accept the truth. In spite of containing quiet dialogue and poor set ups, Lorelei manages to win us over with empathy and the ability to relate to its characters, and that is what makes it a stunning piece of drama. In addition, the movie is impressively led by two talented, yet overlooked, actors.
The film starts with the release of Wayland (Pablo Schreiber) after so many years in jail. Wayland begins his journey by getting drunk with his friends, and for a second one may think the movie will revolve around Wayland trying to escape the life of crime, or even worse, it may add to it. Thankfully though, Lorelei does not go down this path. Lorelei eventually tells the story of people struggling to make ends meet alongside attempting to actualize their wildly ambitious dreams.
Much like Wayland, who time traveled the second he set his eyes on dodgers mother, Dolores (Jena Malone), attended a church single mother’s meeting. After all, she did have Wayland’s name etched on her skin, which must really have been an eye opener for the fathers of her three kids: Dodger (Chancellor Perry), Denim (Parker Pascoe-Sheppard), and Periwinkle (Amelia Borgerding). Before Wayland shifted in with Dolores, he took up a job alongside her as a maid in a run down motel. Despite them working two jobs, the duo could never seem to maintain their poor economic stability. A centerpiece scene reveals how Peri’s birthday celebration isn’t everything she wants it to be, and it sends Dolores into an emotional tailspin. Much like the average American citizen, they were also just one bad day away from being homeless.
Malone’s Schreiber and Malone give their characters real dimension to offset some of the more cliche aspects of the plotting and dialogue, especially concerning the three children who are oftentimes created in a very melodramatic fashion. Schreiber utilizes his extraordinary bulk in a fascinating manner in that he is so overbearing, yet at the same time mesmerizingly fragile. I have always regarded Schreiber with affection and I wish more directors would not hesitate to employ him in this fashion. He possesses astonishing depth. Schreiber, for instance, knows that Wayland has a more cynical viewpoint than Dolores, and while he is a kind man, deeply wants to do right. What he knows, however, is that such rightness doesn’t guarantee one anything in this world. Leaving things in a world that could have only been melodramatic is an intricate work of deconstruction.
The equally-underrated Malone counters with a much more emotionally extreme performance. A kaleidoscope of emotions, she sparkles when she reunites with Wayland. It is as though he serves as a bittersweet reminder of everything she never had. Since, the last time she saw the ocean, it was during their time together.
While he may be everything she desires now, he is also everything she lacked for a while. Malone truly understands this intricacy. Both of them are complete opposites and this is reason enough to watch Lorelei.
Even parts of Lorelei which appear to be cliched are engaging because of the subtleness of the film making and acting. It might not be a drama that one can always refer to as sincere, but the actors who spearhead it manage to power through the stereotypes and smoothly portray the real, undivatated spirit of their characters without an ounce of being ostentatious or abusive. They show utmost compassion to Wayland and Dolores, and to the uncountable people who may be in the process of grappling with an unanticipated reality, and setting aside a certain dream for the time being.
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