ReelBob: ‘Love & Debt’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Love & Debt” was produced two years ago, yet it feels so now because of the economic catastrophe created by the coronavirus pandemic.
The movie, directed by Valerie Landsburg and written by Landsburg and Dylan Otto, focuses on the family toll when Henry Warner (Tom Cavanagh) loses his job after working six months without a paycheck.
Henry is more than $80,000 in debt. Adding to his woes, Henry is too guilt-ridden and ashamed to reveal his misfortune to his wife.
Henry tries to keep things running normally is his cluttered house. His wife, Karen (Bellamy Young), is overwhelmed by the couple’s three kids — teenage Melissa (Bailee Madison), hockey-crazy Tiffany (Lillian Ellen Jones) and son Matty (Maël Ferigo).
Melissa is always fighting with and belittling her mom; Tiffany is breaking stuff by hitting balls around the house with her hockey stick; and Matty never speaks.
Meanwhile Henry is starting to receive phone calls from Travis Parker (Casey Abrams), a young college graduate working at a collection agency.
Parker simply cannot be as cold-blooded and ruthless as his fellow workers and shows empathy and concern for Henry’s situation.
The Warners have been on the edge for a while, and Henry’s job loss only exacerbates the situation. Tensions explode when he finally confesses to Karen. She feels betrayed not only by Henry’s silence, but because her mother accidentally learned about her husband’s predicament before she did.
The family implodes, with Karen retreating to her mother’s house, leaving Henry to cope with the children.
It is at this juncture that Melissa steps up and helps her dad with her younger siblings, accepting some of the responsibilities she had previously shirked.
The crux of “Love & Debt” is not Henry’s job loss, but how it emotionally frays the family. And in today’s world that is an issue many of us, unfortunately, can understand and appreciate.
When Henry first loses his job, he wallows in self-pity. He drinks, drives away in the morning as if going to work, then sneaks back home.
Cavanagh’s Henry is a decent and loving man who dotes on his wife and kids. While Karen fumes when the children misbehave or argue with each other, Henry fails to take their perceived shortcomings very seriously.
He adores his kids, wanting only the best for them.
He also loves his wife and cannot understand why she seems to have turned against him, mostly complaining about him nor supporting her discipling of their children.
Young’s Karen has issues with her mother, who is constantly judging her, and feels that her daughters don’t respect her. Young displays Karen’s emotional fragility and her dependence on pills to maintain her sanity.
“Love & Debt” is a drama with comedic overtones that looks at the challenges a marriage and family face during hard times. And it also shows the strength and durability of love that, while not being able to overcome financial obstacles, can at least reveal how depending on your loved ones can create a bond that is stronger than the hardest steel and provide the emotional fortitude necessary to go on with life.
“Love & Debt” ends on a note of hopeful uncertainty. It is a movie that offers lessons that hundreds of families who are struggling today can learn from and embrace.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
LOVE & DEBT
3 stars out of 4
Not rated, language