School shootings are an unfortunately timely subject, so it makes sense why more and more filmmakers are tackling the subject. Movies like The Fallout starring Jenna Ortega and fellow Tribeca selection The Graduates examine the impact such an event can have on the students that witness it, but Eric LaRue takes a different approach by honing in on the parents — particularly the mother and father of the shooter — causing it to more closely resemble We Need to Talk About Kevin or Mass.

‘Eric LaRue’ Features Great Performances, but They Don’t Fit Together
Judy Greer and Alexander Skarsgård take on the roles of the aforementioned parents Janice and Ron, and both are playing refreshingly against type. There’s been a recent, long overdue Judy Greer renaissance, and this movie more than proves why she’s deserving of it. Though she’s known for her broad comedic skills and sidekick roles, she’s magnetic in this dramatic leading performance. Her guilt, exhaustion, and loneliness are evident in every cigarette puff and minute spent gathering the courage to start packing up Eric’s room.
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Skarsgård acts as her foil as Ron is a man full of optimism and joy due to finding community at Redeemer, a new church. He is almost unrecognizable with his conservative haircut and goatee — a far cry from the playboys in Succession and Infinity Pool we’ve been graced with so far this year. While Janice worries about everything and feels every negative emotion under the sun, Ron has no concerns and seems to be incapable of sitting in any kind of sadness or shame. He’s bubbly — irritatingly so, according to Janice — with a stark clarity about not just his own life but his family’s, too, after being saved by Jesus, though he can’t seem to articulate it to his wife, which drives another wedge in their marriage.

Speaking of Jesus, religion is a big conflict in their relationship and theme in the film as a whole. While Ron is passionate about Redeemer, Janice is reluctant to join it, having a loyalty to good-natured but woefully incompetent Pastor Steve (Paul Sparks) at First Presbyterian. The churches stand in stark contrast to each other — Ron’s pastor Verne (Tracy Letts) is clearly much more traditional, giving a skin-crawling speech about how Ron has to start acting like the man of the house and telling Janice what to do.

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The setup is strong, with Janice and Ron on completely different wavelengths — a situation ripe for conflict. Unfortunately, the performances feel like they’re on completely different wavelengths, too. They’re both doing strong work — in fact, the whole ensemble is at the top of their game — but they feel like they’re ripped from two completely different movies. Greer, Nation Sage Henrikson (who plays her son Eric), and the mothers Janice is trying to set up a meeting with are in a dark, serious drama, while Skarsgård, Sparks, and Alison Pill (who takes on the role of Lisa, Ron’s affectionate, over-the-top co-worker and prayer group buddy) are playing everything with high, zany comedy. It’s a puzzling tonal choice that never meshes together to create anything that feels coherent.

Having moments of humor and lightness in a film as serious as this can be a great thing, but the attempts at comedy feel overdone and veer into slapstick or sketch comedy territory, which simply doesn’t work against the bleak backdrop and somber mood the film seems to try and steep us in. Because of this, none of the characters ever feel quite like real, logical people. For instance, I struggle to understand or believe why Janice and the other mothers would continue meeting with Steve when he’s proven to be such a useless, bumbling fool.

‘Eric LaRue’s Confusing Pacing Lessens Its Impact
Eric LaRue runs just shy of two hours, and unfortunately, you feel every minute. There are a few scenes that overstay their welcome a few times over, like one where Steve has Janice play a card game to try and discover things about herself. Even the final scene starts losing its impact the longer it goes on, with the characters starting to repeat themselves and speak in circles. It may be more authentic to real life, and it may work better in the play on which the movie is based, but it gets to be more grating than moving. Even the scenes of Janice’s day-to-day life — smoking in the car, working her job at a big-box store, going into Eric’s room — can feel somewhat indulgent and unnecessary after we’ve seen a few of them. Greer is excellent in them all, particularly when she gets the chance to be a bit unrestrained when a man comes in and tries to buy a gun from her — but shaving each of them down could make everything tighter without losing anything crucial.

Cutting down some of the redundant parts could help beef up some of the plotlines that don’t feel like they go much of anywhere, too. Ron and Lisa’s strange, intense near-affair, for one, doesn’t seem to have any real resolution or consequences in Ron and Janice’s marriage. In fact, Ron and Janice don’t really share all that much screen time. The fact we get scenes with them alone helps to flesh out some of their characterization and inner lives, but their dynamic doesn’t feel as satisfying as it could have if it was more of a central focus. Having more context for what their relationship was like pre-tragedy could also help ground us, as we’re given only sparse background on anything about the family before Eric was arrested.

Eric LaRue feels like a couple of separate films smashed together in more ways than just the tone and performances. The gun violence story and religious aspects, while linked, never feel cohesive, making it difficult to understand what the movie is trying to say about either. It’s obviously trying to satirize and poke fun at religion, but the commentary feels slightly half-baked and muddled. The actual qualities of religion that they’re parodying come across as generic and larger-than-life in a way that doesn’t feel like it fits with the core story of Janice attempting to find her place in society after her world has been rocked.

Michael Shannon cleary has a talent for getting great individual performances from his actors. Unfortunately, these performances don’t work together in the big picture of the movie. There are several interesting ideas and stories floating around Eric LaRue, but Shannon can’t seem to decide which ones to focus on. While there are some genuinely fantastic, inspired moments, they frustratingly never quite come together, leading to a baffling viewing experience. Hopefully, Greer will get another chance in the spotlight of a more worthy film.

Rating: C

Eric LaRue had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.