Review | ‘Some Kind of Heaven’ teaches that life isn’t perfect, and that’s OK
Lance Oppenheim’s new documentary, “Some Kind of Heaven,” provides a static, melancholy look at life for retirees. WikiCommons
How do you reconcile not being happy in a seemingly perfect world?
One exchange between two septuagenarians in Lance Oppenheim’s debut documentary, “Some Kind of Heaven,” captures that melancholy, essential question of the film.
“So you’re gonna have a good time tonight?”
“Oh yeah, that’s what life is about, at this age. If you can’t enjoy your life now, you’re never going to.”
“Some Kind of Heaven” follows four old people residing in “The Villages” in Florida, the largest retirement community in a state filled with retirement communities. “The Villages” spans approximately 32 square miles with a population of over 100,000. Described as “Disneyland for retirees” in the film, “The Villages” has everything a retiree could ever dream of, from live music and dancing to pickleball and bocce. Yet there’s a sense of dissatisfaction that lingers among some members.
The main characters of the documentary include married couple Anne and Reggie Kincer, Dennis Dean — an unhoused man living in his van and looking to marry someone for their money — and Barbara Lochiatto — a widow who moved to “The Villages” with her husband before he died.
The film is one of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. Every frame is beautifully composed with vibrant colors; I would gladly put any shot from this movie as a poster up on my wall. Oppenheim does an incredible job of giving the film a static feel, holding on long takes for just the right amount of time, with a lack of cuts serving to immerse the viewer in the world.
Aesthetics aside, this film is truly an achievement in documentary filmmaking. Oppenheim went to stay at “The Villages” for a month before shooting, just to become immersed in the community. He then lived there for about a year and a half during the course of the filming process. His familiarity and comfort with the subjects is clear, an aspect that makes the film thrive.
The movie also succeeds as a character study, with each having their own arcs over the course of the film. The Kincers are unhappy and describe themselves as “more like roommates” than a married couple, but after Reggie almost goes to jail for marijuana and cocaine use, they realize how much they mean to each other and find their way back in their marriage. Dean is searching for, as he says, “a nice-looking lady with some money that I would not be embarrassed to be seen on the street with,” and ends up finding exactly that. However, once he does, he wishes for the freedom he used to have and laments, “Comfort or freedom, that’s the way it works — you can’t have it both ways.”
Lochiatto admits early on that she has been unhappy living at “The Villages” with the death of her husband and she is struggling to move on, unsure if she even wants to. We follow her as she tries to find more of a purpose in life, through both connecting with another man and taking an acting class. At the end of the movie we see Lochiatto still alone, but this time more at comfort with herself, accepting the life she is living.
I found comfort in the static melancholy of “Some Kind of Heaven,” and appreciated its message about taking comfort in your own life. Often we can get caught up in the little dramas of our day, and this film was a nice reminder that resistance to those challenges often causes more pain than the problems themselves. The retirees live with the fact that their life isn’t perfect, but it is good nonetheless. I think we all can learn something from that.
“Some Kind of Heaven” is available for rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime or Google Play.
