Clutter, a cold-weather Carol Kane movie, maybe

The Pacific Northwest has been, by my weakling standards, COLD, and by anybody’s standards dangerously (multiple-car, multiple-blocked-lane pile-ups) rainy. Hide-at-home movie time. I like Amazon Prime because it hands you oddball stuff for free. Which is how, meandering through the aisles, I found Clutter. Not a cheerful movie for hot cocoa: this is a spotlight on a dysfunctional family, damaged by the premature death of the head of the household and his wife’s reactive plunge into hoarding disorder. There are a few feeble humorous moments, lots o’ melodrama, an unconvincing love story – in other words, let’s throw in everything and see what works. Its saving grace is Carol Kane, who plays the struggling wife. Her love of the Stuff is believable and sympathetic, laced with melancholy. Her character as a none-the-less loving Mom and multi-faceted human being is well-defined. I’m biased because I always enjoy her work, but I’d recommend this film for her performance and the credible perspective it offers on hoarding disorder.