Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Yesterday, tired of being trapped in the house by smoke, I saw a movie several blocks from where I live.  "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" very much exceeded my expectations.  It is the true story of Lee Israel, who forged letters from famous writers, and sold them as original.  Melissa McCarthy still has a mouth on her in this film, but it seems natural and realistic, versus her over the top potty humor in most of her films.  The role is perfect for her, and for Richard E. Grant, and they both steal the show, skipping gleefully down the street.  While not appealing people, they are sympathetic and we know they are intelligent, but frustrated by whatever demons haunt them.  You don't know their childhoods or back story, which I found refreshing, and that helps us not feel manipulated by their dire straights at the time period portrayed.  Two Eleanor Rigbys, lonely as it gets.  I recognized these people, they were real, and I wished them well while knowing it was not going to turn out happily.  I had tears in my eyes at the end, when Lee confronts her ex-girlfriend, played perfectly by Anna Deveare Smith, and the fairy tale ending does not apply.  Truth, unvarnished, but breathtakingly real.  I was blown away.