Chapter twenty-four: Postcards from the Edge

Suzanne Vale, (Meryl) is a struggling Hollywood actress recovering from an addiction after an incident with opioids was taken too far. As she is about to be released from rehab, it is advised that she live with a parent because Suzanne is at very high risk to do a movie, and will not be insured if she pursues drugs. So, if Suzanne wants to continue filming for the movie she is currently a part of, she's going to have to come back to her childhood home and live with her mother Doris, (Shirley Maclaine) who will keep her behavior in check.

During the meat of the movie, Suzanne is working very hard to monitor her sobriety and maintain her career. Sometimes she can get quite agitated so she has to remember to bite her tongue and let the director give direction, which is hard to do because the spreading news of her previous addiction means that she isn't being treated all too kindly in the business. Not to mention that the man she was in a romantic relationship with had some women on the side, so Suzanne has to cope with a cheating boyfriend on top of all this. But the biggest problem that overshadows these is that Suzanne's mother isn't motivating her to stay sober on account of the fact that she is an avid drinker herself. Doris was also an actress when she was Suzanne's age; she wants her to be as good as her, which only deepens the contemptment Suzanne has towards her mother. What stirs the pot even more is when Suzanne comes to the conclusion that her usage of drugs started out due to her mother's poor, yet influential, behaviors as a parent. She confronts her mother.

What comes down to in the end is that the two work things out after a heartfelt conservation. Doris wines herself up in the hospital after crashing her car into a tree, and Suzanne rushes over to be with her, which binds their bond once again and restores their appreciation for each other. I wish I knew how to explain it in greater detail, but that's really all it is. A conversation next to each other in a hospital bed, and suddenly, all the gloom from their relationship is brightened - all that is bad is forgotten. That is what you hope for in a movie like this after all, isn't?

The movie ends as Suzanne films the last scene to her movie, which is being shot throughout the progression of the real movie. She's on stage at a midwestern-themed restaurant singing I'm Checkin' Out, a song by Shel Siverstein, as a crowd of people watch her. Her mother's in the crowd, up on a platform, gazing at her with proud eyes because she has always enjoyed her daughter's singing voice. Not only does the ending scene signify Suzanne's growth, how happy she is at the current moment, and how far she has come, but in my humble opinion, it is the absolute best ending to a movie ever. This is a bold statement (literally) I know, but the ending to this movie is so energetic, infectious, and flat out my favorite. There is no other description for it.

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The film is based on a semi-autobiographical Carrie Fisher novel of the same title that was published in 1987, and Carrie wrote the screenplay for the movie as well, which was released in 1990 by Mike Nichols. Debbie Reynolds has previously denied in interviews that this movie/book is about their mother-daughter relationship. My opinion is that maybe they both had different interpretations of what their relationship was like at the time, and this movie/book was Carrie's, possibly slightly embellished, point of view. Nonetheless, if such is true, or even if the narrative wasn't embellished, the pair remained close, which is obvious, because they passed within a single day of each other. May they rest in peace.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.