"Weepah Way for Now" - Film Review
Weepah Way for Now is not the first meandering movie about musicians living in the San Fernando Valley, but it does have the added benefit of actual musicians playing the starring roles. Not only that, the leads are played by real-life sisters Aly and AJ Michalka, who have toured under the names Aly & AJ and 78violet for eighteen years. The bickering between Elle (Aly) and Joy (AJ) feels natural from the first scene. Their conversation naturally jumps from which age is considered the most “biblical” to their dog’s vomit to their upcoming party.
Elle and Joy are simultaneously fiercely close and deeply distant toward each other, in the way only siblings can be. Their closeness and their codependency come in part from their parents’ divorce and their father’s cheating. These events splintered the family and forced the sisters to learn to rely more on each other. Elle and Joy aren’t the only children in the family, though. There’s also Emily (Saoirse Ronan), who would have been the middle sister. She was born without a heartbeat, but provides the narration for the film.
Elle and Joy are planning a European tour for their first new album in eight years, and the film chronicles the days leading up to their departure. They’re throwing a going away party for their LA friends and they’re trying to tie up loose ends like dry cleaning and gynecologist appointments before the start of the tour.
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When Weepah Way for Now works, it really works. The rapidfire teasing, the added insight from Emily’s voiceover, and the blend of real home videos all combine to create a fascinating film. The line between Aly and AJ and their fictional characters is somewhat blurred, and the audience is left with unanswered questions. Are the aching feelings for a simpler time manifestations of Aly and AJ’s actual anxieties? Or is it all for show? In a way it doesn’t matter, because the two have an effortless authenticity that carries the film through some of its weaker moments.
Make no mistake, Weepah Way for Now is a winding look at family relationships. Despite the looming deadline of the tour, Elle and Joy aren’t in the mood to go anywhere fast. They have meaningless, circular arguments, and dance parties in lieu of packing. There’s enough of a plot threaded through the film to keep the story moving at a steady rate while allowing moments of genuine sadness to land for the sisters.
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