Eleanor the Great: a tonally uncertain Holocaust drama with a wonderful central performance

Eleanor the Great: a tonally uncertain Holocaust drama with a wonderful central performance

Despite a wonderful central performance from June Squibb, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut is a sentimental, tonally uncertain drama about grief and holocaust survival Eleanor Morgenstein, a 94-year-old Midwesterner living in Florida, moves to New York after the death of her close friend and roommate Bessie, a Holocaust survivor. She joins a Jewish seniors group and accidentally finds herself part of a meeting of Holocaust survivors. Elean…

Eleanor The Great Review – 'Pleasingly old-fashioned'

Any fool can have a great career third act; June Squibb, at 96, is on at least her fifth and still accelerating. Last year she starred in the (age-appropriate) action hit Thelma; now she gets a satisfyingly complicated role as a mischievous but spiky pensioner in a smart comedy-drama of the type we’re often told doesn’t get made anymore. Squibb’s Eleanor Morgenstein lives a contented life with her best friend of 70 years in Florida, but when tra…