Close to You
Elliot Page’s role as a trans man fuses truth and fiction to memorable effect.
Elliot Page
Image courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
The arrival on our screens of Close to You is an example of perfect timing. We live in an age when so many issues around trans people have developed into a veritable battleground of conflicting viewpoints but here we have a film which, ignoring such matters, simply invites the viewer to identify with its central character, a trans man named Sam, and to share his experiences. Viewers who happen to be trans will likely be drawn to the film but its prime achievement is to enable those who are not trans to see things from the viewpoint of Sam who is on screen virtually throughout. Although in some respects I consider the film something of a failure, this central aim is handled in a unique way that makes Close to You regardless of any shortcomings a very special film indeed.
Despite the director here being Dominic Savage, it is fair to think of this as an Elliot Page enterprise. Page, who plays the role of Sam and who shares the story credit with Savage, is himself a trans man who came out as such in 2020. Prior to that Elliot had been notably successful as an actress, Ellen Page, whose major triumph was to be Oscar-nominated for her leading role in the popular 2007 film Juno. Close to You is Page’s first cinema role in seven years and represents an opportunity that he has created to present himself as a trans man on screen. Now age thirty-seven he has also published a memoir, Pageboy, and both that and this film evidence his belief that his own known history can now be used in a positive way to spread understanding of those with direct experience of being transgender.
In setting up Close to You with Dominic Savage, Page opts to tell the story of how Sam, living now in Toronto, goes back to his former home near Lake Ontario where he had grown up as a girl. He is about to visit his family for the first time in four years. The decision to do this is linked to the birthday of his father, Jim (Peter Outerbridge), and the visit reunites him also with his mother, Miriam (Wendy Crewson), his brother Michael (Daniel Mashany) and his two sisters, Kate (Janet Porter) and Megan (Alex Paxton-Beesley). In addition, he meets for the first time the partners of his sisters, Stephen (Andrew Bushell) and Paul (David Reale). As it happens, he also has a chance encounter on the train with an old friend from high school, Katherine (Hillary Baack). In introducing us to these people Savage retains features often present in his work: he has an acute observational eye for everyday detail and favours dialogue that is built up through improvisation by the players. At its best this makes for a great sense of authenticity although it can run the risk of becoming too self-conscious in its wish to make a point.
I have indicated that there are elements here that make Close to You special and this stems I believe from an aspect of the cinemagoing experience which is surely widespread even if it is not consciously recognised by all. I refer to the paradox inherent in enjoying a film when on the one hand the viewer believes in the characters on screen to the extent of being caught up in their emotions but also simultaneously accepts the artifice present by appreciating the quality of the acting. The star system has always been important to cinema and illustrates perfectly the public’s ability to respond on both levels (in theory the one should clash with the other but instead they miraculously combine to enhance one's enjoyment). Usually, this double vision leads to one appreciating both the actor and the role while keeping the two distinct and it is the fact that Close to You brings them together which makes it so extraordinary. Aided by Page’s fine and sensitive performance, we feel that Sam’s story is being fully realised but our awareness of the actor on this occasion makes us sense that, whatever details may vary, Elliot Page’s life is also being represented and that adds to the power of the empathy created.
This major success is due to the fact that the portrayal of Sam's relationship with his family is presented in terms which allow Sam to emerge as a representative figure. Inevitably the experiences of trans men will vary but there is enough here that can stand in as believably possessing a general validity. If Sam himself convinces in both his strength and vulnerability, the portrayal of the generally sympathetic family members is also astute showing underlying stress and guilt over their responses to Sam's path in life. If the brother-in-law, Paul, is the one example of somebody at heart transphobic his presence is sadly apt as part of this portrayal even if what is said in his scenes can seem more contrived when it comes to building to a big conflict.
However, the serious flaw in Close to You lies in the fact that in its last quarter it turns away from Sam's interaction with his family to concentrate on his relationship with Katherine, the girl from his school days. Just how close their relationship had been then is never precisely defined but the possibility of it being renewed despite Katherine now being married and a mother takes over. Unfortunately, in contrast to what has preceded it this lacks the sense of general relevance and it becomes instead a personal tale particular to our lead character. It lets down the film in other ways too. Hillary Baack captures the emotions experienced by Katherine but I am not the only critic to find an unfortunate lack of clarity in her diction and in any case the storyline here is not well handled. To give Katherine not only children but also a sympathetic husband albeit then to ignore them is not helpful in making one sympathise with the possibility of her deserting her family to join Sam. Furthermore, to put the focus so strongly on this question takes us away from Sam's relationship with his own family. It's that which feels key here and, if the film wished to move beyond that, it needed to do so in a much more detailed and considered way (that story could in fact have been presented in the form of a sequel). As it is, this element fails, but for most of the time the family drama succeeds admirably and, in any case, Close to You is a career highlight for its star.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Elliot Page, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Peter Outerbridge, David Reale, Janet Porter, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Daniel Mashany, Sook-Yin Lee, Andrew Bushell, Jim Watson, Amanda Richer.
Dir Dominic Savage, Pro Krishnendu Majumbar, Richard Yee, Daniel Bekerman, Chris Urkovich, Dominic Savage and Elliot Page, Screenplay Dominic Savage, from a story by Dominic Savage and Elliot Page, Ph Catherine Lutes, Pro Des Joseph Kabbach, Ed David Charap, Music Dominic Savage and Oliver Coates, Costumes Cameron Lee.
Good Question Media/ Kindred Spirit/Me + You Productions/Pageboy Productions/Rolling Dice/Kindrid Spirit-Vertigo Releasing.
100 mins. USA/UK. 2023. US Rel: 16 August 2024. UK Rel: 30 August 2024. Cert. 15.
