Eleanor The Great: Heartwarming Story

This is an interesting and very well-acted film, which marks the directorial debut of Scarlet Johansson.  (As an aside, Scarlett is on my top-five beautiful Jewish women's list, which also includes Natalie Portman, Inbar Lavi, Gal Godot, Noa Tishby, and Sendi Bar.)  The movie raises an ethical dilemma about major lies and the negative impact they have on both the liar, as well as those close to them.  Is there any justification for giving the liar a pass, or is it always wrong, regardless of the circumstances? Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb) is a 94-year-old woman living in a nice condo development with her best friend, Bessie (Rita Zohar).  Bessie is a holocaust survivor who suffers from PTSD and has survivor guilt about the loss of her brother.  Eleanor was born the The Bronx.  They have both been widows and living together for along time.  Bessie dies, so Eleanor decides to move to NYC, at least for a while, to live with her daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht), and her grandson, Max (Will Price).  Lisa and Max, however, don't have much free time for her.  Furthermore, Eleanor is quite edgy and especially critical of Lisa.  Lisa schedules Eleanor for a singing group at the nearby JCC (Jewish Community Center), so Eleanor has something to do while she is away at work.  Eleanor doesn't like the group.  She is about to leave the JCC, but, at the encouragement of another woman (who assumes Eleanor is a holocaust survivor), Eleanor enters an on-going holocaust survivors' group.  Rather than leave the group due to this innocent mistake, Elanor decides to remain and starts telling the group Bessie's holocaust story. Also present as an observer is an NYU sophomore journalism student, Nina (Erin Kellyman), who will write up her experience there as a journalism assignment.  Eleanor's recounting of Bessie's story as her own moves Nina to make Elanor's story the centerpiece of her article.  Furthermore, Eleanor – having been denied the chance for a Bat Mitzvah when she was thirteen – decides that she wants to have a Bat Mitzvah now, and joins a nearby temple in order to do so. I won't say any more about the plot, but the lie soon has a life of its own and has serious consequences which Eleanor couldn't have anticipated when she made the impulsive decision to tell Bessie's story as her own.  Squibb gives an A.A.W. performance (as she did in last year's "Thelma" – well-worth watching) and the rest of the cast is excellent, which is a credit to Johansson.  Whether Eleanor (the character) is great or not is up for debate, but the film, if not quite great, is at least on my 2025 Top 20 list, and may possibly even wind up my Top 10!