Butler's Cinema Scene

Stanley Tucci, Colin Firth

“SUPERNOVA”  My rating: B+ (Opens Jan. 29 at the Barrywoods, Parkway, Studio and Town Center theaters)

93 minutes | MPAA rating: R

Sam and Tusker (Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci) have been a couple for so long that they talk in shorthand.

Sam, a concert pianist now more-or-less retired, is the fussy, responsible one.

Tusker, a novelist, is a sarcastic wit with little use for propriety; he impishly ridicules his lover’s obsessions.

As Harry Macqueen’s film begins the two are cruising Britain’s back roads in an RV, accompanied by their flatulent dog.

They bicker about travel routes, about what to play on the radio, about Sam’s painfully slow driving. The mood is reasonably light.

Until, that is, they stop for groceries and Tusker wanders off with the pooch.  He manages to perambulate a mile or so down the road before a frantic Sam catches up and gently leads his bewildered best friend back into their ride.

It doesn’t take long for a viewer to grasp the dimensions of Sam and Tusker’s dilemma. Tusker is slipping into early onset dementia; they’re on a sort of farewell tour to visit Sam’s sister and brother-in-law (Pippa Haywood, Peter MacQueen) and other old acquaintances before Tusker’s lights go out altogether.

First, it should be noted that while Firth and Tucci are playing a gay couple, gayness has next to nothing to do with the overall setup.  There’s not a hint of societal disapproval here. no Celtic rednecks to look disapprovingly on the relationship. No stiff-necked family members.

No, these are just two people who have been essential parts of each other’s lives for years trying with varying degrees of of success to cope with a horrible situation.

Problem is, Tusker and Sam aren’t on the same page.

For starters, Tusker has deliberately left behind his meds. They’re not doing any good, he claims. Besides, “they remind me that I’m ill and I don’t want that.”

Sam is determined to be the loving, supportive spouse right up to the  grim end.  Tusker doesn’t much like that scenario; in fact he has secretly prepped an end-it-all kit, complete with hoarded barbiturates and a tape-recorded suicide note.

The stress of all this on the relationship is huge.  Sam cannot look at his lover without being overcome by loss.

This only pisses off Tusker, who hasn’t signed on for a pity party: “You’re not supposed mourn someone while they’re still alive.”

As scripted by Macqueen and impeccably acted by its leading men, “Supernova” is a heartwrencher that might be unbearable if not for the quality of its performances.

Watching Tucci and Firth throw themselves into this material is like a crash course in great acting.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that they’re only examining the big BIG issues:  love, commitment, loss, death.

The title of “Supernova” refers to Tusker’s hobby as an amateur astronomer. All matter, he notes, is thought to be the result of exploding stars, supernovas.

Find wonder in our celestial origins; take comfort in our universal destinies.

| Robert W. Butler