‘Don’t Talk to Irene’ Review: Nerd Girl Has Cheerleader Dreams in Familiar Outcast Comedy
TIFF 2017: Canada’s entry in the misfit-makes-good sweepstakes grates at first, then finds its rhythm
Robert Abele | February 28, 2018 @ 10:00 AM
Last Updated: February 28, 2018 @ 10:15 AM
The Canadian indie “Don’t Talk to Irene” shows it’s possible to find a movie’s first 20 minutes immensely dislikable and its last 20 minutes assuredly winning; that it’s possible to tap your feet and roll your eyes at the same time as you recognize how you’re being played.
Somewhere in between introducing, in a dumpster, the titular misfit teenage girl (newcomer Michelle McLeod), and sending her into the closing credits with a few Hughes-ian moments of justifiable pride, writer-director Pat Mills (“Guidance”) manages to overcome a weakness for twee snark and easy humiliation comedy to find a suitably amusing, even touching underdog trifle. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before — save Geena Davis voicing herself as a sort of invisible friend to the movie’s outsider protagonist — yet in its modest way, it’s a comfortingly familiar serving of weirdos-forever calories.
The way Mills sets up Irene’s unpopularity, though, and the pervasive drabness of her life as captured by cinematographer Paul Sarossy (“Goon: Last of the Enforcers”), is enough to make you fear you’re heading into Todd Solondz territory, where clinical malice will completely overwhelm hope.
Overweight, bespectacled and lonely, with an overprotective young single mother (Anastasia Phillips, “Reign”) who forbids her from watching TV, having a cell phone, or accessing the Internet, Irene makes her debut not only standing in trash, but talking to a pet maggot in her hand, which she names Veronica. (As far as stacking the deck goes in rendering an outcast, this is a bit much to process in one go.) Though ostensibly aware of her nerdiness and how challenging her social chances are at school, Irene wants nevertheless to be a cheerleader — really? — going so far as to cobble together a squad outfit at home.
She also talks to her ceiling poster of Geena Davis, but then it talks back her, too. The Oscar-winning “Thelma & Louise” star, whose early narration segues into a role as omniscient celebrity deity/motivational speaker for our frumpy protagonist, convinces Irene never to quit, citing everything from her own self-consciousness in Hollywood about her height, to having survived “Earth Girls are Easy.” (Davis clearly had fun with this.)
Not surprisingly, the next day at school, Irene’s handmade uniform earns its share of laughter, but also the cruelty of a shower prank by mean girl Sarah (a snarling Aviva Mongillo) and her feckless boyfriend Robbie (Romeo Carere). (Mills comes dangerously close here to making us think anybody who’d fall for their gross ploy is brain-damaged, leading a viewer to wonder, does Irene have to be made stupid on top of everything else?) Irene and her tormentors are not only suspended, but handed a community service sentence working at a local senior facility under a harried, caustic taskmaster (Scott Thompson).
Anyone with a base movie IQ could guess how the following elements are assembled into the feel-good pivot in Irene’s story: a gruff, retired boxer (Bruce Gray, “Crimson Peak”) with self-esteem advice; a TV talent show beloved by the residents; the line “But we have nothing to cheer for,” from one scabrously-humored senior named Ruth (Deborah Grover, “Orphan Black”); and secret dance lessons. Yes, Irene decides her pom-pom dreams can be made real if she choreographs a cheerleading number with the facility’s willing aged, and arranges for an audition on “Total Talent Showdown.” Cue CeCe Peniston’s “Finally,” the help of gender-nonconforming pal Tesh (Andy Reid), the training montage, the cranky made cute, and the doubters made irrelevant.
And yet Mills succeeds at presenting the formula for finding confidence, once it gets rolling, much more than when he’s larding his first-gear mode with clunkily profane one-liners and empty nastiness. Partly that’s because there’s a general acidity to the performers around McLeod, whether allies or foes, that appropriately cuts any swelling sugariness. Nobody acts like they’re in a feel-good movie, which somehow works.
But mostly it’s that the sense of purpose in Irene — no less oddball, just more driven, and with geriatric misfits for believable friends (it helps that she sneaks in vodka for them) — makes for a more appealing heroine, and McLeod hunkers down and runs with it. Irene’s deployment of disgraced ’80s tunes as a theme of reclamation, with the help of a kind record store worker (Jacob Switzer, “Hemlock Grove”), is strangely charming; learning about Milli Vanilli, Irene picks “Blame it On the Rain” for one number.
Even her eventual pushback against her controlling mom (“I want to sext!”) earns laughs. By the time we see the finished routine, after a last round of obstacles are thwarted, the vibe is of something unpolished, nutty and joyful being freak-flag cathartic, instead of fake-triumphant.
As lightweight don’t-change-for-anybody messages go, you could do a lot more worse, and far more cynically uplifting, than “Don’t Talk to Irene.” But you also wouldn’t get to hear Geena Davis playing Geena Davis as God, for one thing.
117 Amazing Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio, From Angelina Jolie to Jim Carrey (Photos)
Actors Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney and director Craig Gillespie, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress-producer Margot Robbie, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Margot Robbie, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Allison Janney, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Sebastian Stan, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
"Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond" Jim Carrey
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jim Carrey, "Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Chris Smith, "Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Current War"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Michael Shannon, "The Current War"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult, "The Current War"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Angelina Jolie, "First They Killed My Father"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Angelina Jolie with producer Rithy Panh, stars Kimhak Mun, Sareum Srey Moch and co-writer Luong Ung, "First They Killed My Father"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-director Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Laurie Metcalf, "Lady Bird"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Tracy Letts, "Lady Bird"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Brie Larson, "Unicorn Store"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Sam Rockwell, "Woman Walks Ahead"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci, "The Children Act"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer Ian McEwan, actor Stanley Tucci, director Richard Eyre and actors Emma Thompson and Duncan Kenworthy, "The Children Act"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Stanley Tucci, "The Children Act"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
"Outside In" director Lynn Shelton with her cast Jay Duplass, Kaitlyn Dever and Edie Falco
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jay Duplass, "Outside In"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Edie Falco, "Outside In"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Kaitlyn Dever, "Outside In"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Lynn Shelton, "Outside In"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Tatiana Maslany, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Miranda Richardson, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
"Stronger" star Jake Gyllenhaal with Jeff Bauman, the Boston Marathon bombing survivor he plays in the fiilm
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer Jeff Bauman, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Cedric the Entertainer, "First Reformed"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Cedric the Entertainer, "First Reformed"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Cedric the Entertainer and director Paul Schrader "First Reformed"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actors Aaron Pederson, Abbey Lee, Matt Nable, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville and Ryan Corr, "1%"
Abbey Lee, "1%"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Simone Kessel, "1%"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Ed Harris, "Kodachrome"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Ed Harris and director Mark Raso, "Kodachrome"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Mark Raso, "Kodachrome"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-producer Jeremy Chilnick, writer-director-producer Morgan Spurlock and producer Matthew Galkin, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Producer Matthew Galkin, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-producer Jeremy Chilnick, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-director-producer-star Morgan Spurlock, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Morgan Spurlock, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Joseph Kahn, "Bodied"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Rory Uphold, "Bodied"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Calum Worthy, "Bodied"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Armando Iannucci, "The Death of Stalin"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Darren Aronofsky, "mother!"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Darren Aronofsky, "mother!"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince and Sean Baker, "The Florida Project"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Willem Dafoe, "The Florida Project"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director-star James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director-star James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Ari Graynor, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Jessica Chastain, "Molly's Game" and "Woman Walks Ahead"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Jessica Chastain, director Susanna White and Michael Greyeyes, "Woman Walks Ahead"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Julianne Nicholson, "Who We Are Now"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Zachary Quinto, "Who We Are Now"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Josh Lucas, "Mark Felt"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Selma Blair, "Mom and Dad"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage, "Mom and Dad"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, "One of Us"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Kyle Rideout, "Public Schooled"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Judy Greer "Public Schooled"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Eddie Izzard, "Victoria & Abdul"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Ali Fazal, "Victoria & Abdul"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Elisabeth Moss, "The Square"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Terry Notary, "The Square"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Ruben Ostland, "The Square"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Claes Bang, "The Square"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Screenwriter Anthony McCarten, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer Anthony McCarten, stars Ben Mendelsohn, Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas with director Joe Wright, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Ben Mendelsohn, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Gary Oldman, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Gary Oldman, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Joe Wright, "Darkest Hour"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Nahuel Peres Biscayar, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Arnaud Valois, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director John Curran with actors Jim Gaffigan, Ed Helms and Kate Mara, writers Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, "Chappaquiddick"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
"Chappaquiddick" director John Curran
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Kate Mara, "Chappaquiddick"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Kate Mara, "Chappaquiddick"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jim Gaffigan, "Chappaquiddick"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Ed Helms, "Chappaquiddick"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Dan Gilroy, "Roman J. Israel, Esq."
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Diane Kruger, "In the Fade"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Diane Kruger, "In the Fade"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Alexander Payne, "Downsizing"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actors Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau and director Alexander Payne, "Downsizing"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Christoph Waltz, "Downsizing"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Hong Chau, "Downsizing"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actors Wes Studi, Rosamund Pike, direcor Scott Cooper, Christian Bale and Jonathan Majors, "Hostiles"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Simon Baker, "Breath"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Simon Baker, "Breath"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Neil Burger, "The Upside"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-director Martin McDonagh, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director and co-writer Dee Rees, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Jason Mitchell, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Rob Morgan, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jason Mitchell and Rob Morgan, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actors Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, director Dee Rees, actors Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Garrett Hedlund, "Mudbound"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer-director Robin Campillo, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, "Battle of the Sexes"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, "Battle of the Sexes"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Brady Jandreau, "The Rider"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
1 of 118
TIFF 2017: Jake Gyllenhaal, Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch and more sit down to talk about their latest projects
Actors Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney and director Craig Gillespie, "I, Tonya"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto