Can you ever forgive us for waiting until our 45th edition to offer up this wonderful little film?
Starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant (both in Oscar nominated roles) as author/convicted forger Lee Israel and her questionable right hand man Jack Hock, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a very special film. In part, that’s because it does something far too films ever do: at its core, it’s about the complexities of a relationship between a lesbian and gay man. Mind you, this particular lesbian and gay man are both total messes whose friendship is born out of desperation and alcoholism, and who spend most of their lives day drinking at a gay bar (@juliusbarnyc is essentially the third main character in this film!) but that’s part of what makes the film feel so singular: When do we ever get to see a queer woman and a queer man on screen just commiserating with one another?
Directed by the great Marielle Heller from an Oscar-nominated script by Jeff Whitty and Nicole Holofcener, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a sad, hilarious and deeply human film that has much to say about queer friendship… and queer loneliness. Which is why it’s the perfect film for us to gather together and watch as we kick off our 2025 program.
