I’ll Be Right There

By Joanna Langfield

Like its lovely protagonist, Edie Falco’s newest tries to be all things to all people. But this slight but smart comic drama still manages to satisfy, at least some of the time.

Falco plays a divorced mother of two, trying to please, or at least appease, her aging mother, very pregnant daughter, aimless son, hungry lesbian lover, all while balancing a work life with a boyfriend she’s not crazy about and an old friend who she might be. I’m tired just reading all that. And that’s the point. Wanda is taking on too much. But, hey, if she doesn’t do it, who will? And that, my friends, is a dilemma many of us can relate to.

Jim Beggarly’s episodic script is directed with heart and not much of a budget by Brendan Walsh, who worked with Falco on the series Nurse Jackie. Clearly, they are a good team. She gives yet another fully developed, sympathetic but just tough enough performance. And she is matched by an impressive supporting cast. I would love to have seen more of Bradley Whitford and Michael Rapaport, both of whom are terrific, if underused. Kayli Carter seems to be having fun, but it’s the two other members of Wanda’s family, played by a compelling Charlie Tahan (great also in ‘Ozark”) and the marvelous Jeannie Berlin who won my heart. As, eventually, did Wanda, thanks to the continuously top notch Falco, proving once again she can make the most desperate of housewives worth rooting for.