Review: 'Supernova' intimacy among stars

Bleecker Street, 2021.

Simple, touching and powerful, "Supernova" explores the harsh realities of finality, loyalty, love and the explosiveness of human connectivity.

Grade: A-

Talk about star-power. Two of the great unsung actors of our time, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, play a couple who know that inevitably, their time together is running out.

Tusker (Tucci) is an author who has been stalling with completing his latest book, not because he doesn't want to finish it but because he can't...he has been diagnosed with onset dementia and it's starting to show its hand. Sam (Firth) is an esteemed pianist who holds his emotions in check, mainly because of his deep, selfless love for Tusker, a man he's been with for nearly 20 years. He holds brief recording sessions with Tusker so they can mark the disease's progress and get his thoughts on tape before it's too late.

The two have embarked on a road trip in an RV, one last hurrah through the sprawling, British landscape. You can see them soaking in one another's presence, and the movie revels in the small, otherwise "unimportant" moments between them. They squabble, as all veteran couples do, they laugh and at first they don't directly confront the elephant in the room. Like a supernova that explodes as it dies, they are on a collision course with their fragile emotions about to be shattered.

Tucci is absolutely fantastic, but his is the more extroverted of the two roles. It is Firth who brilliantly bottles himself up, overflowing occasionally for maximum emotional impact. Together they bring a warm chemistry and a worn-in quality that is palpable to the audience. Both men are crushed by their impending fate, and both are trying desperately to save the other from pain. In doing so, they end up hurting each other in unexpected ways.

"Supernova" isn't afraid to show the intimacy between these two men, and to confront head-on the topic of death. It relies heavily on its two leads to make it work, and boy does it work. Ultimately, "Supernova" feels like an odd title for this little film, but metaphorically, it fits, also given the fact that it involves two of the brightest stars in Hollywood.

At one point in the film, a character says, "It's not about fair, it's about love." That is the essence of "Supernova."

Grade: A-
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Genre: Drama, Romance.
Run Time: 1 hour 33 minutes.
Rated R.

Starring: Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, Pippa Haywood.

Written and Directed by Harry Macqueen ("Hinterland").

"Supernova" is available theatrically on Friday, January 29th, 2021 and on VOD starting Tuesday, February 16th, 2021.