Boundaries

Boundaries 2

If nothing else, this familiar familia proves just how far good actors can elevate an ordinary script.

Vera Farmiga stars as an overloaded single mom, a woman whose relationship with the stray dogs she adopts (awwww!) is far better than the one she has with her somewhat estranged father. Said father, played by the effervescent Christopher Plummer, is getting kicked out of his retirement home for selling weed. And so begins an odd couple road trip of sorts, father/daughter, along with impressionable son (a fine Lewis MacDougall), who has been kicked out of school for drawing cartoonish impressions of men he knows, naked.

The scenery is pretty, the not very challenging proceedings brightened up by the fun drop-ins from Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Schaal and Peter Fonda.

I could watch Farmiga do just about anything and it feels as if that’s just about what we’re doing here. As written and directed by Shana Feste, Laura is really not much more than a somewhat daffy cog in a cute wheel. But Farmiga brings much more to each scene than that. She’s a smart, effective actress, with an interesting, balanced roster of credits. Why isn’t she more of a star? Her work with Plummer, who brings an infectious twinkle to what could have been a standard old codger role, is delightful and helps make this goes-down-easy story worth a peek.