“Remarkably Bright Creatures” has a lot of heart

As of Friday afternoon, I had not written a damn thing for this week. On Sunday, I saw a horror movie called “Hokum”—it was about a writer, which inspired me to consider working on Chapter 2 of “Escape.” However, this week proved exhausting, leaving me without a single creative thought, so that plan didn’t materialize. Later, during my prep at work, I was searching for reviews of the movie I plan to review next week, “Mortal Kombat 2,” and stumbled upon the fact that a film adaptation of one of my favorite books of the past few years, “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” was on Netflix. 

In “Remarkably Bright Creatures, ” Tova (Sally Field) is a cleaner at the local aquarium. She has a particular affection for the aged octopus, Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina). One day, a young man named Cameron (Lewis Pullman) arrives in search of his father. Tova and Cameron form an unlikely bond as she helps him in his search. 

The book was better. Now that we have that trite, overused line out of the way, let’s judge the movie on its own merits. 

Lewis Pullman has been doing some great work lately. In last year’s “Thunderbolts*,” he played Bob a man with superpowers, but is also a man with bipolar disorder (he’s both a hero called Sentry and a villain called The Void) and it was an incredibly powerful performance. As Cameron, he brings that same troubled man energy that he brought to Bob. Cameron has never known his father and is in town to find him. His van breaks down, and he gets a job as the replacement night cleaner when Tova gets hurt and needs some time off. Tova has a very specific and thorough way of doing things, so she shows up to teach him how it should be done. Cameron comes with a lot of baggage and through his relationship with Tova he becomes a better, more responsible person. 

Sally Field is great as Tova. Tova is a woman whose life is defined by the tragedy of losing her son when he was in high school, and Field shows the weight that Tova is forced to carry. She is strongly-willed and determined not to be a burden on her friends. Although she doesn’t need to clean the aquarium, she does need to feel useful. We don’t see much of it in the movie, but it is implied that she tells Marcellus things she won’t tell her friends, which further explains why she has this connection to the dying octopus. 

The one major qualm I have with the movie is that we don’t get enough of Marcellus. The book is split between Marcellus's thoughts and the Tova/Cameron story. There is more interiority and character to Marcellus in the book, which makes the ending hit harder. Granted, I was still in tears when the movie ended, but it is that much more powerful in the book. Octopi are fascinating creatures. They are highly intelligent and known for squeezing through impossibly small spaces. I wish there had been more of that in the movie since it was a bigger part of the book.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” is on Netflix

8/10

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some strong language, suggestive references and brief drug use.

1h 51m