Losing Chase

Kevin Bacon directed Losing Chase. It stars Bacon’s wife, Kyra Sedwick and Helen Mirren. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the entire movie was just an excuse for Bacon to watch his wife kiss Helen Mirren. Kevin Bacon, that is so valid. That’s beyond valid, it’s inspirational. Though I’m not sure if the framework of mental health surrounding this movie was necessary.

Helen Mirren’s character is the titular Chase in Losing Chase. Chase’s voiceover reveals she’s had a recent mental breakdown and a diagnosis of clinical depression. Chase’s husband, Richard (Beau Bridges) is perhaps more concerned with his family’s image than for his wife’s mental state. So, Richard hires a “mother’s helper” to act as part nanny, part maid, part companion to Chase. Chase is initially insulting and dismissive to this helper, a woman named Elizabeth. But eventually, Elizabeth provides Chase with both stability and close friendship. But perhaps what Chase feels for Elizabeth goes beyond mere friendship.

Given the first act of Losing Chase, I cannot believe the movie culminates in a classic women supporting women story. Chase is so awful to Elizabeth upon first meeting her. She calls her a slave numerous times. She also engages in power plays to remind Elizabeth of Chase’s superiority. The dynamic in the first act of Losing Chase is actually my favourite bit of the film. It’s like a sleazy 70’s psychodrama. All power dynamics and ambiguous tension. I’ve definitely seen this plot before in movies that have a way higher focus on sex. So, it’s nice to see the dynamic in a movie that isn’t just vintage softcore. And it’s helped so much by Mirren’s performance. Mirren of course has roots in exploitation cinema. But that’s not the Mirren you get here. You get stage actor Mirren, who treats every line of this like it’s Shakespeare.

Then, we get an emotional breakthrough. Elizabeth screams at Chase and it quickly becomes not about Chase at all, but Elizabeth’s mentally ill mother. After this breakthrough, the women become friends. I don’t know how Elizabeth is able to be friendly with Chase after all the calling her a slave business, but anyway. The film at this point becomes a reasonably standard TV drama movie. Kevin Bacon shows competence with this project, but absolutely no directorial style. Any half-decent director could’ve cranked out the same movie.

The lesbianism in Losing Chase is relegated to one kiss. But it is one hell of a kiss. I had a hypothesis going into this that Kevin Bacon made this movie so he could watch Helen Mirren kiss his wife. And when the kiss happened, I’m certain that’s the motive. It’s a pretty incredible kiss. But after the kiss and Chase’s expression that her feelings towards Elizabeth are more than friendly, Elizabeth literally sprints away. And that’s kind of it for lesbian content. Chase and Elizabeth don’t end up together, though Chase’s voice over says she dreams of Elizabeth often. Is Chase actually queer? Or was her interest in Elizabeth borne out of a clutch for balance and displeasure and disconnect with her husband? Honestly, if the kiss was less passionate, I probably would’ve disregarded Losing Chase as a WLW film. But damn, that was one hell of a kiss.

Losing Chase’s attempts to deal with mental health as a theme are admirable, but imperfect. There’s a distinct 1996-era attitude towards fictional mental health. The main issue is the way Chase’s mental health manifests depending on what the scene requires. Her severe depression is basically cured when Elizabeth shows up. So, maybe that’s situational depression and that makes sense. But in one or two scenes, Chase also experiences delusions, such as that Elizabeth is drowning when in reality, Elizabeth is perfectly safe. That particular instance really just feels put in so we can get a big dramatic moment where Chase finally reveals the depth of her feelings towards Elizabeth. Losing Chase doesn’t have a strong enough grasp on what diagnosis Chase actually suffers from. So, she becomes a stand in for all mental health issues. That’s more than you can ask of one person. Even of Helen Mirren.

I would’ve liked Losing Chase a lot more if it was the problematic power play between two women the whole way through. Once the film disposes of that dynamic, it does become a pretty standard TV movie. Helen Mirren’s presence definitely bumps it up a couple of points. This screenplay is objectively pretty average. But Mirren is so good and so committed to her craft that she performed the hell out of each line she’s given. Still, doesn’t change the fact that Losing Chase isn’t particularly gay, or particularly ambitious. It really does feel like a 90 minute story all in service of one admittedly spectacular kiss.

Overall rating: 6.1/10

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