Edie Falco stars in a satirical comedy

in one of the best scenes I’ll be there soonone character tells a family story involving an unlikely getaway driver. The story centers on her middle-aged daughter, who knows a thing or two about driving—although her role behind the wheel is more about hauling back and forth than taking a break. These two strong women are played by Jeannie Berlin and Edie Falco, both actors with an indescribable sense of groundedness. Later in the film, when a slow-motion shot of them running side by side down a hospital corridor appears on screen, it feels like a winking, loving gift to this satire of family and midlife angst. One of the dazzling bonuses.

Director Brendan Walsh’s second feature film (after “ degrees celsius) is a modestly sized event that benefits from its eclectic sense of place and superb cast. I’ll be there soon The film walks a fine line between comfortable and troublesome—like its protagonist, Falco’s Wanda, who, tired of being the voice of reason in a farce, toes the line between justified anger and deep patience. balance while caring for a troubled family member.

Wanda is a divorced mother of two adult children. Daughter Sarah (Kelly Carter) is eight months pregnant, and she wants to hold a church wedding with Eugene (Jake Mulhern) before her due date. Wanda’s troubled son Mark (Charlie Tahan) Ozarkwho will reunite with Carter in the Bob Dylan biopic Completely unknown), has overcome his addiction but has a rocky relationship with the truth, much to the chagrin of his therapist (Jeffrey Owens).

Wanda’s ex-husband Henry (Bradley Whitford) is busy taking care of a new group of children, and he is also a whiny child. Her mild-mannered boyfriend, Marshall (played by Michael Rapaport), is surprisingly restrained and yet lulled into a kind of existential angst-filled calm. He blurts out an illogical proposal and then revokes it in the next breath, embarrassed that he’s crossed a line. Even if she didn’t cheat on Marshall, as she recently discovered her lesbian side, marrying him would be the last thing on Wanda’s bucket list. If she had.

Her relationship with young university professor Sophie (Sepideh Moafi) blackbird and Kill two lovers) was a secret, but she didn’t keep it too closely. Henry and Sarah’s reaction to this revelation is poignantly written and acted, but more importantly Wanda’s gradual realization that romance isn’t all there is to it. Sophie has a knack for pigeonholing, and she appears on Wanda’s front porch at odd hours, sometimes drunk, always horny.

Wanda then develops a new friendship with Albert (Michael Beach), a high school classmate who has recently returned to town. While he’s a firefighter and a devoted divorced father, which might be a simplistic summary of genuine, solid kindness, he’s both flustered and impressed when Wanda mentions her bisexual dating status. There is also something fresh and touching.

Based on a screenplay by Jim Beggarly (a country called home, A year and changes), Walsh struggles early on to find the ideal tone between black comedy and something more anodyne—even though the opening sequence centers on Falco and Berlin, surrounding 68-year-old Grace (Berlin) Receiving a cancer diagnosis unfolded better than she expected. The gallows humor feels strained, and the insistent cheeriness of James Leighton’s score is too much. Things settle down and find their footing in Tahan’s first scene, which offers a more sophisticated sense of humor.

Wanda is always on call to respond to the various distress messages sent by Grace, Sarah and Mark; the film’s title expresses an emotional restraint. She drives a blue station wagon and spends most of her time traveling around town, providing comfort and rescue. She works as a bookkeeper in the evenings. The scenes of her writing the book in the bars and restaurants of the small downtown are filled with the everyday yet unexpected, animated by Aaron Meddick’s cinematography, and Leighton’s score delivers an anxious but effective The bottom flow. (Elsewhere, it hits perfect comedic notes.) There’s also family quality time, captured in a scene at a local ice cream shop, where three generations of women talk about or surround themselves with what’s going on. Or what happened decades ago.

Calling this an actor’s showcase would be a stretch, but it’s truly an actor’s film, which might explain why Falco and Jesse Eisenberg (who starred in ” free sampleBegali’s first produced screenplay). In addition to Wanda’s interactions with other characters—which include eye rolls and precisely applied incredulous eyebrow raises—Falco finds subtle strengths in several breakout breakdowns, with Rappaport and Berlin each providing perfect balance. Falco and Whitford are spot-on in the scenes they choose to share, effortlessly settling into the well-worn rhythms and rhythms of their characters’ hostility.

Carter and Tahan bring nuance to their broader characters, and Berlin keeps you hooked on everything about her—especially the syncopated rhythms of her line readings, especially when the lines have built-in capture. “It’s not gambling,” the casino-goer told her daughter, “if you know how to play it.”

Falco is as involved as ever and may not be taking a wild gamble here, but there’s a certain risk in the way she and the film reach a neat conclusion. There’s wisdom in the way they end up in a messier, sweeter, more satisfying place.