I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)
The writer-producer-director Kelley Kali takes the central role in her engaging tale about a young widow juggling optimism and homelessness.
Right down to the somewhat unorthodox inclusion of the brackets embedded within it, the title of this film is a good one, neat and memorable. Nevertheless, it could be a slight drawback that I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) might encourage viewers to expect a smart comedy since at heart this is the story of a widow, Danny (Kelley Kali), who, living with her young daughter (Wesley Moss), has become homeless. Her husband had died unexpectedly and early and had taken out no insurance on his life and when we first see Danny and her child it is at the end of a long tracking shot which, starting in the flowery Californian countryside, moves back and back to reveal that these two are waking up in a tent which has become their home.
Central to this film is Kelley Kali for whom it is a very nice calling card. Not only does she play the leading role effortlessly becoming a thoroughly engaging presence in it, but in addition she is a co-producer (one of five), a co-writer (one of three) and co-director alongside Angelique Molina. For both Kali and Molina it is their most significant work to date winning them a couple of festival awards in America. Indeed one critic described it as "a gem”and, while I would not go as far as that, I do find it a pleasing piece. It is, in fact, a modest work which plays out in the course of a single day on the streets of the Pacoima neighbourhood in Los Angeles and, while it is not really a comedy, it is certainly not without humour. That aspect of it comes across neatly when Danny, anxious not to reveal that she is currently homeless, bumps into an old acquaintance who in theory could be asked for a loan only to find that this woman (Julia Kennedy) is herself soliciting money for an Adopt-A-Dog fund.
This film invites us to spend the day with Danny who, having placed her daughter with a childminder (Dominique Molina), spends the time going around on roller skates the more easily to engage in her two activities, the braiding of hair for clients whom she visits and the delivery of groceries. The one significant plot element lies in the fact that this day is her last opportunity to put down the deposit on a home and, although she has been saving for this, she is still short of the full amount and aware that she may have to pawn something, that becoming clear when one client relied on proves unable to pay up for her services. While that provides the storyline, the day is otherwise made up of passing encounters, helpful or otherwise. In this way we find her engaging with her best friend Brooklynn (BK Marie), Brooklynn's new boyfriend (Deon Cole), a widower named Jake who had been friendly with her late husband (Andrew Galvan) and others including a barber who also does business as a pawnbroker (Ira Scipio).
Although I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) has a distinctly feminine viewpoint, it brings to mind the work of Sean Baker, not least 2017’s The Florida Project (its emphasis on street scenes may make it even closer to his earlier film Tangerine but nothing here is akin to that film’s transgressive spirit). Indeed, while Danny’s homelessness speaks of poverty in America and makes that felt, the film avoids getting on a soapbox regarding social conditions or the lives of so many African-Americans. Those aspects are simply and effectively inherent in what we see. The casting throughout is adroit and there is always a good sense of place. Indeed, there are just two elements that let the film down somewhat. The more significant one arises arises when Danny's friend shares some spiked weed with her. This action is believable enough in itself and certainly has a role to play in the plot, but the directorial style is ill-judged here. Their drugged state is implied by a shot so set up as to suggest that it is an upside down image and later when Danny suffers from hallucinations that lead to her imagining that she is deep underwater the images fully indulge that: it's an episode which as handled is quite out of character with the rest of the film. My other regret is that in giving us the upbeat conclusion that we want the film late on and for the first time takes on a sentimental tone. My rating for the film reflects these weaknesses, but nevertheless this is a film that gives much pleasure and its warm reception should justifiably help to establish Kelley Kali far more prominently.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Kelley Kali, BK Marie, Andrew Galvan, Wesley Moss, Deon Cole, Ira Scipio, Xing-Mai Deng, Jacolyn Holmes, Julia Kennedy, Dominique Molina, Angelique Molina, Lucas Byrd, Roma Kong, Lamar Usher, Brian Brooks II.
Dir Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina, Pro Kelley Kali, Deon Cole, Capella Fahoome, Angelique Molina and Roma Kong, Screenplay Kelley Kali, Angelique Molina, and Roma Kong, Ph Becky Bai Hui, Pro Des Naoima González Khan, Ed Angelica Lopez and Katie McClellan, Music Erick Del Aguila.
Kaliwood/Cole Blooded, Inc.-Bulldog Film Distribution.
86 mins. USA. 2021. UK Rel: 3 March 2023. Cert. 15.
