Review: Here Today

Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films,

Until it goes all in on a barrage of schmaltz during its final 15 minutes, Billy Crystal's "Here Today" - which the comedian wrote and directed - utilizes the surprisingly effective teamwork of Crystal and Tiffany Haddish to full effect. This is a funny, charming, witty, well written and somewhat serious look at the horrors of old age - that is, until it suddenly feels like a Hallmark Channel movie in the moments when the film is winding down. Those who can get past such things might find the film to otherwise be a genuine surprise.

In the film, Charlie Burnz (Crystal) is somewhat of an icon in the world of comedy - although his career trajectory doesn't exactly make sense. He is the "old guy" writer among a team of young people who write for a late night sketch comedy show, and once wrote Broadway plays and movie screenplays for comedies that have become legendary. In the real world, Burnz's career might have been flipped around, having written for the sketch show before graduating to big time movies and plays. But I digress.

The problem is that Charlie is in the early stages of some form of dementia. When we first meet him, he is walking to his job at the TV station, memorizing the route he takes. For now, his main goal is to not break routine, so he doesn't get confused. His boss on the sketch show obviously has affection for him, but some of the younger writers don't get why he's kept around. They come to realize that Charlie's affinity for what works on TV and what doesn't is spot on.

An early sign that he isn't doing well comes during a scene in which Charlie sits on the stage during a retrospective - at which Barry Levinson, Kevin Kline and Sharon Stone play themselves - and the audience thinks Charlie is joking when he acts as if he can't remember the names of the people on stage.

Meanwhile, Emma (Haddish) is an aspiring singer with a jerk of an ex-boyfriend, an actor who was obsessed with Charlie's work. Therefore, he bid $22 during a charity event to have lunch with Charlie, but Emma managed to keep the raffle ticket when they split up. That's how she meets Charlie. Although their luncheon doesn't go so well - Emma is apparently allergic to shellfish and the lunch date culminates at a hospital - they soon begin to bond.

After he pays her hospital bill, Emma is determined to befriend Charlie, especially after she is the only one to figure out that he has a health problem, while his busy children (portrayed by Penn Badgley and Laura Benanti) are too busy with their lives to notice. Charlie's goal, before he loses his senses completely, is to write a book dedicated to his late wife, a young artist with whom he was madly in love. She died years before in an accident, and it's clear that at least one of Charlie's children sort of blame him for it.

There are some funny and warm moments in the picture between Charlie and Emma - and Haddish and Crystal have surprisingly strong comedic chemistry. Also, thankfully, the film doesn't make the mistake of having Charlie and Emma provide important life lessons for one another of the type that films about friendships between people of two different races tend to include. They're just friends - and they show up for each other, most notably a hilarious bat mitzvah that Emma attempts to liven up.

This is a mostly sharp and witty film about two likable people whose unlikely friendship makes for some good laughs and some genuine displays of emotion. That, unfortunately, is nearly undone during a climactic scene in which Charlie - in the throes of dementia - wanders into the woods, and Emma and Charlie's family must go looking for him. The schmaltz factor is cranked up quite high in this scene, and although its last shot is a nice one, the final scenes come close to being a deal breaker. But it's the insight, strong writing and genuine warmth of the film that make it worth recommending. "Here Today" might not be Crystal's strongest work, but it's good to have him back.