'Poetic License' Review
- Michael Petrey
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 09/26/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Comedy.
MPAA: Not Rated.
Distributor: Row K Entertainment.
The Verdict: A Must-See
Poetic License follows Liz (Leslie Mann), a middle-aged mother struggling to relinquish control of caring for her daughter who is going off to college. Liz audits a college poetry class and crosses paths with two longtime college senior friends who quickly develop affections for Liz as an older, attractive woman.
The movie works well because of the natural chemistry between the characters. The relationship between Liz and her daughter Dora (Nora Parker) feels authentic. It’s enjoyable to watch their teetering balance between love and frustration as Liz’s daughter Dora (Nora Parker) does her best to venture out on her own and escape her mom’s tight, territorial grip on her life. Liz’s sometimes obsessive, but always loving relationship with her daughter stems beyond natural maternal instinct, as Liz struggles to find friends and a social life in a new city her family relocated to for her husband’s job as a college professor.
Liz audits a poetry class to explore her interest in poetry and with the intent of getting out of the house and meeting new friends. She meets classmates Ari (Cooper Hoffman) and Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman) who are quickly infatuated by Liz’s charm and beauty. Ari is single and less subtle with his aggressive romantic pursuit of Liz, despite knowing she is married with a daughter. Sam approaches his blooming Liz relationship with the goal of friendship since he already has a girlfriend, but he quickly falls for her as well. A fierce competition ensues between Ari and Sam for Liz’s heart testing their relationship and causing Liz to question how she’s wound up being the sought after point of this peculiar love triangle.
The ‘hangout’ scenes between these three characters are fun and invite the audience to hang out with these likable characters, all with different backgrounds and personalities. They play off of each other well and the dialogue is consistently sharp, witty and hilarious. Martha Kelly plays their poetry class professor who is in the midst of a heated divorce that she vents to her class about. Kelly’s wry and dry delivery was a crowd favorite, whose performance brought a smile to everyone’s face in the theatre.
In addition to the wonderfully funny dialogue and exceptional cast performances, Maude Apatow’s direction is naturalistic and her setup of scenes is warm and inviting. The poetry classroom stuck with me visually with its classic classroom look featuring a green chalkboard standing on a wood frame in front of the vibrant blue painted classroom walls and meticulously organized bookshelves. These are small details, but these thoughtful choices were aesthetically pleasing and helped draw me into the classroom and college campus setting.
Maude Apatow impresses in her directorial debut collaborating with her mother, Leslie Mann, who delivers a stellar performance alongside the hilariously energetic comedic duo of Andrew Barth Feldman and Cooper Hoffman propelled by naturally kinetic chemistry and razor sharp dialogue from writer Raffi Donatich.
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