‘Union Square’ Movie Review

There are only a few people in the world who can surprise, exasperate and heal us all at the same time, and they’re usually our family members. Union Square, a new movie by Nancy Savoca, is the story of two estranged sisters, Lucy and Jenny (Mira Sorvino and Tammy Blanchard, respectively), who couldn’t be more different, yet over the course of one weekend find that their lives are entwined by bonds that go so much deeper than class, income or past mistakes.

Lucy is loud and flashy and outspoken. Jenny is reserved and disciplined. After Lucy’s current fling breaks up with her via text message, she invites herself over to her sister’s minimalistic Union Square apartment, effectively bursting back into her life. She brings chaos and Jenny finds herself on the edge a breakdown as she tries to reconcile the reality of her sister with the lies she’s told her fiancee about her family. You can take the girl out of Queens, but…well…you know.

Although the film is slow to get going and never really turns into what you might call a nail-biter, Sorvino and Blanchard make the story compelling. Even though we’re thrown into their relationship without any of the clunky exposition that a less talented screenwriter might make us endure, we’re never uncertain about who they are to each other. We can believe that they have an intense and complicated past, that they’re sisters who have become strangers to each other.

I enjoyed the film. It was simple, but a truly great character piece for both sisters. Although they start off as stereotypes of their characters, the beauty of the film is in the way that, once the layers are peeled back, they’re revealed to be complicated people who can’t be summed up in cliched phrases. The movie asks us to look deeper at individuals we might be tempted to judge based on appearances alone.

Union Square opens to limited theaters today, July 13th. You can watch the trailer below.