Touché

 

ANORA (A) - Writer-director Sean Baker is in his own league, and he proves it again with this rollicking rabbit-chase about an escort who marries a client on a whim and ends up ensnared in danger and drama involving his Russian family and their goons. I guess it would qualify as a romantic comedy, albeit translated into Baker's unique cinematic language. 

 

Baker is at home again in the world of sex workers, with a languorous opening shot panning across pole dancers and lap dancers in naked glory. Anora, who goes by Ani, works at the kind of strip club that involves a good deal of off-stage extracurricular activity. She is played with verve by Mikey Madison, who played the oldest daughter on TV's "Better Things" and a Manson girl in "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood." Ani hits it off one night with the young Russian playboy Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a wisp of a lad who makes Timothee Chalomet look chubby. 

Ani slips him her number and soon they are partying at his parents' Brooklyn mansion at a premium escort rate, with no kickbacks to the house. Things get out of hand, and soon they are getting married during a whirlwind jaunt to Las Vegas. Ani has been rescued from a drab life, and Vanya has someone to rest their head on his chest while he plays video games like a zombie. And so, they grow old together, regaling their grandchildren with their nutty origin story -- not. 

Word of the nuptials gets back to Vanya's godfather, Toros (Karren Karagulian), whose job it is to look after the man-child, and so he sends two of his goons, Garrick and Igor, to break up the party and ship Vanya back to his oligarch parents in Moscow. Vanya escapes and it takes both henchmen to tame the new bride -- as Madison lets loose with all the energy she can muster for a memorable scene. The rest of the film becomes a madcap hunt for Vanya by Toros, Garrick, Igor and the captive Ani across Brooklyn and Manhattan in a race to get the marriage annulled.

You've heard of and seen plots like this before. But no one brings both a street cred and a narrative confidence to the big screen like Baker, who crafted similar odysseys in "Tangerine" and "Red Rocket." At 2 hours and 19 minutes, it is so entertaining you don't want it to end. (He might have shaved some time off the first 20 minutes; he didn't need to show that much sex, though it does set the table for the improbable bond between Ani and Vanya, such that you believe that she intends her sham marriage to last.)

Karagulian, a Baker regular, is fun to watch as the harried ringleader who can imagine the defenestration possibilities if he doesn't deliver Vanya back to Moscow. Vache Tovmasyan is amusing as Garrick, whose initial run-in with Ani leaves him concussed for the second half of the film. And Yura Borisov is a revelation as the thoughtful, caring Igor, who bonds with Ani while he keeps watch on her overnight. They have a fascinating conversation while the TV news drones on in the background, and she mocks him when he mispronounces touché by rhyming it with whoosh. ("Maybe you should learn English before you try French," she scolds.) Madison, rocking a Jersey accent borrowed from Adriana La Cerva of "The Sopranos," is a force of nature from start to finish. It helps, for authenticity purposes, that she is a little homely, though her physical attributes are impressive, and she is eager to exploit them on screen.

I'm not sure what was more impressive -- Baker's casting of the film (in addition to writing and directing, he cast the film and edited it) or the effortless manner of unspooling a narrative with multiple moving parts.  The demolition of Vanya's living room by Ani battling Garrick and Igor is itself a master class in staging. The piece de resistance of casting comes when Vanya's mother, Galina, strides off the private jet in New York. Darya Ekamasova is a perfect ice queen, whom no one can stop from her mission to pry Ani's mitts off of her baby boy. 

"Anora" is a thrill from start to finish, with no moments wasted. It is funny and tragic and sad and heartwarming. Let's call it Sean Baker's masterpiece. For now.

BONUS TRACK

The trailer: