Sebastian Leilo has reimagined his 2013 film “Gloria” for an American audience with “Gloria Bell”. With Julianne Moore in the title role as well as John Turturro, Michael Cera, Caren Pistorius, Brad Garrett, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Rita Wilson, Sean Astin, and Holland Taylor, this strong cast is able to deliver this relatable story.
This is the story of a woman over a decade after her divorce who spends her evenings at a local dance club in hopes of making a connection with another person while trying to keep who she is as a career-minded woman and mother of adult children intact. After she meets a man whom has been divorced for only a year, their relationship progresses while Gloria learns that his two adult daughters still rely heavily on him, forcing him to not own up to having moved on. This introspective on what dating today is like is a refreshing change from the rom-coms that the major studios like to produce.
With a selection of music from the mid to late ‘70s, I found myself singing along in my head to artists like Laura Branigan, with a nod to the original film, which used Umberto Tozzi and Giancarlo Bigazzi’s “Gloria”. Although there is a Spotify playlist currently out there with music from this film, I kind of hope that there will be a soundtrack release so I can have all of them in one place.
Due to the fact that this subject matter and the images that come with it makes “Gloria Bell” more focused on those of us that are of a certain age, it may not be the kind of film that those of a newer generation may not identify with. However, if you would like to take a step away from the main stream big budget pictures and give an independent film a try, I do recommend this one.