In the bonus track of the DVD of "Gloria Bell," the film artists sought to describe the story of "an extraordinary ordinary woman." Unfortunately, we never saw much of the "extraordinary" side of the protagonist over the course of the film. To the contrary, there was a pattern of indolence and idleness in her Gloria, as well as terrible choices for the use of her time. An even greater Achilles heel was in her choice of men.

For some reason, the filmmakers didn't realize that they were not making a serious art film, but were working with material from a Lifetime Channel movie. This was most apparent in the main love relationship between Gloria and Arnold, who might best be called "Runaway Arnold." When he feels the pressure of his ex-wife and two grown children, with whom he still resides, he withdraws. This was most apparent on the occasion of a trip to Las Vegas in which he simply walks out on Gloria with no explanation. On another occasion when there was a birthday celebration for Gloria's son, Arnold vanishes from the scene without a word.

In the bonus track of the DVD, actress Julianne Moore misquoted the mythologist Joseph Campbell, who did not say that people are looking for "the feeling of being alive." Rather, he said that we were searching for the vitality of the "experience of life." Gloria certainly did not discover much experiential vitality in the course of this film.

Too much time is wasted in the film in portraying Gloria's dissolute life in bars and shallow conversations where the characters are not genuinely connecting. As described in the bonus segment of the DVD, the goal was to present "an intense journey" of the protagonist. But, for the most part, Gloria seemed to be standing still, wasting time on fruitless, mindless activity.

The film's director, Sebastián Lelio, was remaking an earlier version of the same film, which is itself a pretentious artistic enterprise. There was an interesting analogy made by actor Brad Garrett in the bonus track, when he described Lelio's style as "Chekhovian." It is true that Chekhov's characters are often indolent and idle exactly like the character of "Gloria Bell." But in the quiet moments where the characters are alone in Chekhov, there is often a profound sense of the humanity of aloneness. That dynamic was never apparent in "Gloria Bell."

In a number of scenes in the film, there were long stretches of time when Gloria was alone in her car singing to the radio. Those moments seemed self-indulgent and comic, as opposed to profound. In the classic film "Singin' in the Rain," actor-dancer Gene Kelly truly conveys the exhilaration of the human journey through song. By contrast, "Gloria Bell" is left with the unenviable fate of singin' in the car.

There isn't much of a story but the lovely Julianne Moore makes it watchable. You want to see what happens to her a lonely divorcee with her ex Husband remarried and her children grown. She meets a man played by Jon Turturro freshly divorced. Quite an unlikely couple. He has trouble dealing with the new relationship. He behaves strangely walking out on a meeting with her kids and then abandoning her in Vegas when she suggests taking a trip to Europe. It's quite funny when she gets her own back at the end but just can't buy it that such a beautiful woman could be treated like that.

Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore) is a middle-aged divorcée in Los Angeles. She spends her days at her job, with her friends and her family, and dealing with a hairless cat and a disturbed neighbor. She spends her nights dancing at a nightclub with other older club goers. One night, she meets Arnold (John Turturro).

This is a remake of a Chilean film. The style is a matter of fact, slice of life story of a simple older woman. It has some docu-style flair. When she has the one night stand with Arnold, it's fine for her to know nothing about him. As she gets into a relationship, the movie needs to do some exposition with his life. I may have missed it but she needs to have a deep discussion about his relationships. This movie has a lot unspoken but his personal life cannot be one of them. He can lie about it but she can't not ask him about it. Turturro is obviously disturbed somehow and she's avoiding it. There are little things that rang wrong. I don't like her son questioning her where she found Arnold. It's an inquisition when he should be supportive. He could rail against him but he can't accuse her. It's a written line to point a finger at her when her son would unlikely do that in reality. Otherwise, it's a great portrait of an older woman. The tension is lessened by looking away from the drama.