Magnolia Bookends Summer with ‘Arlen Faber’

Date:

There was too much starch for me with Arlen Faber, a rom com that tries so hard at being good and at getting all the emotions within a 90-minute run. While John Hindman’s debut wasn’t my fancy, a good portion of the crowd at my public screening were revved up. As I had mentioned in my quick coverage of a screening in Park City, I think this will work well with a certain demographic (anyone over 40), and as an individual title this is considered good counter-programming from the Magnet division. IndieWIRE reports that Magnolia pictures as picked up the film in a deal that would call for a summer release (where many of the Sundance buys are winding up). 

Formerly titled “The Dream of the Romans”, Jeff Daniels plays the title character, “Faber” tells the story of the reclusive author of “Me and God,” a massively popular book that essentially redefined spirituality. His life becomes entangled with a chiropractor (Lauren Graham) and a recovering alcoholic (Lou Taylor Pucci), leading to a series of events that redefines each of their own lives.

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society), FIPRESCI and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

Share post:

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Popular

More like this
Related

Interview: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud – Persepolis

The thrill of meeting Marjane Satrapi reminded me of being 6 years old at Disney Land when I met the living, breathing Cinderella. Except Cinderella was an actress with a blond wig and Marjane is the real woman behind her autobiographical graphic novel, turned movie, “Persepolis”. The distinctive mole on her nose and her dark sultry eyes rose off the page and appeared in front of me, smoking and speaking with a French accent.

Interview: Eivind Landsvik – Low Expectations | 2026 Cannes Film Festival

Exploring themes of mental health, emotional recovery, companionship, and...

Interview: Sandra Wollner – Everytime | 2026 Cannes Film Festival

One of the discoveries of this year's Cannes Film...

Interview: Lukas Dhont – Coward | 2026 Cannes Film Festival

Following the Grand Prix–winning Close, Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont...