I was hoping to connect with Black Bear, and for a while I really was – I even found myself enjoying it – until about halfway through, when everything just fell apart remarkably quickly, like Kevin Spacey’s career did. Black Bear is structured in two sections; The Bear on the Road, and The Bear by the House (I'll refer to them as BB1 and BB2); both segments conclude with a sighting of the black bear, but each coul…

Aubrey Plaza gives a wonderful performance here. *Black Bear* held my attention from start to finish. I thought the initial portion was particularly well-done and engaging, even if the ending remained quite absorbing. As mentioned, Plaza is superb across the board – she really drives the movie forward. Christopher Abbott has some noteworthy scenes, and it’s nice to see Paola Lázaro, who appeared in *The Walking De…

It’s like watching a film inside another film, and then yet another one—ambitious, certainly, but ultimately falling short of being truly grand. I really hope to see Aubrey Plaza getting opportunities to carry films as the main character going forward.