#TIFF18 Review: The Land of Steady Habits
By John Corrado
★★★ (out of 4)
The latest from writer-director Nicole Holofcener, this time working from a book by Ted Thompson, The Land of Steady Habits centres on Anders Hill (Ben Mendelsohn), a middle aged man who divorced his wife (Edie Falco) and retired from his job in finance in an attempt to reinvent himself. But Anders is left trying to navigate the relationships that he still has with his ex-wife and their young adult son (Thomas Mann), and when he ends up doing drugs at a party with Charlie (Charlie Tahan), the troubled teenage son of a family friend (Elizabeth Marvel), he gets in way over his head.
This is a super enjoyable, if somewhat slight, film that offers a well handled balance between laughs and character drama. Mendelsohn does good work in the leading role, backed up by a strong supporting cast, with Tahan standing out as the main scene-stealer amongst them. The film is already available on Netflix as of now following its premiere the other night, so you can probably just watch it at home, but there is still plenty to enjoy here, and it’s worth checking out if you like Holofocener’s films.
Ben Mendelsohn and Edie Falco in The Land of Steady Habits
Wednesday, September 12th – 9:30 PM at Roy Thomson Hall
Thursday, September 13th – 10:00 AM at Elgin Theatre
Saturday, September 15th – 9:45 AM at Scotiabank Theatre
The 2018 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6th to 16th.
