'A Love Song' Review
Dale Dickey Gives One of Her Best Performances in This Gem
It’s impossible to see everything and sometimes you miss quite the gem. A Love Song, the feature debut of Max Walker-Silverman, played during the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is now making its big screen debut. While it didn’t feature the star power of some of the other movies that played during the fest or even the most extravagant story, it’s well worth your time. It’s a modest movie about a woman trying to find new meaning in her life and star Dale Dickey gives an impeccable performance as the leading lady. For that alone, A Love Song is well worth the visit.
Faye (Dickey) has parked her camper, waiting to meet up with an old flame from her past. Even though she’s definitely alone out there, she hasn’t exactly hidden away from society. While Faye waits for information that her friend will visit, she lives day by day at the campsite fishing for her breakfast, listening to her radio, and studying the birds that are in the area. Even though the story takes place in the year 2020, she’s satisfied with living with a small footprint. She meets other people who have an interest in her campsite, has friendly conversations with the mail carrier, and befriends a couple who are in the midst of their own romantic entanglement. When Faye is asked about marriage by the couple and whether they should become engaged, she hesitates with her answer. This is obviously a question she struggles with.
Ultimately, all of this is in the hopes of meeting up with her old friend who she hasn’t seen in decades. When Leo (Wes Studi) finally arrives at the campsite, A Love Song reveals itself. Here are two widowed individuals who are trying to find a connection once again. The stories of these two seniors open up, but even more exciting than learning about their past is experiencing their present. They don’t have much at the campsite with them, but they make it a truly memorable day. Even though Faye and Leo haven’t seen each other they fall into familiar rhythms and act as though they are teenagers once again. It’s within this relationship that the magic of A Love Story shines.
Dickey has been working in Hollywood since the mid-90s, but A Love Song represents one of her meatiest roles. Through her performance, you can feel the toll of years on her life. Faye is definitely a person who has experienced something life-altering, and it's within her lack of emotion that those feelings can be truly felt. At this age of her life, she doesn’t break down and cry when something upsets her; she’s lived too long to experience pain in that fashion.
How Faye will grow from her camping trip is one question Walker-Silverman leaves up to the audience to decide. Whether she ultimately ends up romantically entangled with Leo is anyone's guess, but the time they spend together in A Love Song shows how vital those moments in time can be. Dickey gives one of the best performances in her career and perhaps you’ll fall for this couple trying to find new love in the twilight of their lives.[B]
A Love Song is currently playing in select theaters.
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