''Hello I Must Be Going'' is a 2012 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written by Sarah Koskoff and directed by

Todd Louiso Todd Louiso (born January 27, 1970) is an American film actor and film director best known for his role as timid record store clerk Dick in '' High Fidelity'', opposite Jack Black and John Cusack. Career Louiso directed his first film in 2002, ...

. It stars

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

Christopher Abbott Christopher Jacob Abbott (born February 1, 1986) is an American actor. Abbott made his feature film debut in ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' (2011). Abbott's other notable films include '' Hello I Must Be Going'' (2012) '' The Sleepwalker'' (2014) ...

and

Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on '' Huff'' (2004–2006), and a ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

2012 Sundance Film Festival The 2012 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 until January 29, 2012 in Park City, Utah. 64 short films were selected for the festival from 7,675 submissions, including 27 international shorts from 3,592 submissions. Non-competition ...

, and was released theatrically in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on September 7, 2012. The title is a reference to a song from the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

' film ''

Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but ...

''. Speaking of the casting decision of Lynskey in the lead, director Todd Louiso said, "I knew if I cast her, the film had the potential to resonate on a thousand different levels." After Lynskey's audition, "there was no one else." The role represented a career breakthrough for Lynskey, who had previously played in numerous supporting roles. In ''Hello I Must Be Going'', she appears in every scene.

Synopsis

In the midst of a divorce and condemned to move back in with her parents at the age of 35, Amy Minsky's prospects are looking bleak. She's depressed, out of work, and fed up with everybody's so-called "advice", but a secret love affair with a handsome 19-year-old gradually reinstates her self-esteem.

Cast

as Amy Minsky, an unemployed divorcee who moves back in with her parents *

as Ruth Minsky, Amy's mother *

as Jeremy Hammer, a 19-year-old actor and Gwen's son *

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

as Stan Minsky, a lawyer and Amy's father *

Dan Futterman Daniel Paul Futterman (born June 8, 1967) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. Futterman wrote the screenplay for the film '' Capote'', for which he received an Academy Award nomination, an Independent Spirit, Boston Society of Fil ...

as David, an entertainment lawyer and Amy's ex-husband *

Julie White Julie K. White (born June 4, 1961) is an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in ''The Little Dog Laughed'' in 2007. She has also received three other Tony Award nominations for her performance ...

as Gwen Hammer, Jeremy's mother and Larry's wife *

Sara Chase Sara Chase is an American actress and singer best known for playing Cyndee Pokorny on the Netflix original series ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt''. Early life and education Chase is from Hartford, Connecticut, and is a graduate of the Boston Unive ...

as Missy Minsky, Amy's sister-in-law and Noah's wife *

Daniel Eric Gold Daniel Eric Gold (born September 19, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He attended Lee Strasberg's Theater Institute as a teenager, and went on to graduate from Penn State in 1996, with a degree in Theater Arts. Career ...

as Noah Minsky, Amy's brother and Missy's husband who works as a lawyer with Stan *

Meera Simhan Meera Simhan is an English film and stage actress and writer. She appeared in ''Date Movie'' (2006) and several television and stage productions. She had a recurring role in ''Anger Management'' in 2013 and 2014. She was born in England ...

as Karen, a high school acquaintance of Amy's whom she reconnects with *

Damian Young Damian Young (born October 27, 1961) is an American actor notable for his appearance in the Hal Hartley film ''Amateur'' (1994). He also featured in Hartley's earlier film ''Simple Men'' (1992), and has appeared in theatre, television and film. ...

as Larry, Jeremy's stepfather and Gwen's husband * Tori Feinstein as Caley Minsky, Missy and Noah's daughter and Amy's niece *

Jimmi Simpson Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–2013), Lyle the Intern on ''The Late Show ...

as Phil Bauer, another recent divorcee and friend of Missy and Noah whom Amy goes on a date with *

Greta Lee Greta Jiehan Lee (born March 7, 1983) is an American actress. Early life Lee was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are Korean immigrants. While attending Harvard-Westlake School, she became interested in the performing art ...

as a Gap employee *

Andrea Bordeaux Andrea Bordeaux (born March 31, 1987 in Texas) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Harley Hidoko in the TV series ''NCIS: Los Angeles.'' Life and career Bordeaux grew up in Texas. She expressed an interest for ac ...

as a hostess

Production

Filming took place primarily in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

in August 2011. The shoot lasted 20 days.

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics; it currently holds a 75% "fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 51 reviews, with the site's consensus stating: "''Hello I Must Be Going'' offers an offbeat twist to the romance genre, a solid character study for fans of grown-up drama, and a career-making breakout vehicle for Melanie Lynskey."

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

called it "a funny, well-written, involving and emotionally honest tale." Particular praise was given to Lynskey, with

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

calling her performance "a master class in acting."

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

commented that "

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

succeeds almost entirely on the strength of Lynskey's heartfelt and humorous performance," while

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

wrote, "Lynskey inhabits the role so completely, brings such exquisite naturalness to her performance, that she becomes someone we root for unreservedly."

Awards

The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the

, and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of 2012 by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

. Lynskey's performance earned a nomination for Breakthrough Actor at the 2012

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released on September 11, 2012. It features instrumental and vocal material by American singer/songwriter

Laura Veirs Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Portland, Oregon. She is known for her folk/alternative country records and live performances as well as her collaboration with Neko Case and k.d. lang on ...

. # "I Can See Your Tracks"– 3:06 # "The Fox"– 2:14 # "Where Are You Driving" – 2:53 # "Little Lap Dog Lullaby" – 2:05 # "July Flame" – 4:18 # "Make Something Good" – 4:14 # "Tumblebee" – 2:36 # "Drink Deep" – 4:36 # "Prairie Dream" – 1:21 # "Carol Kaye" – 2:48 # "Song My Friends Taught Me" – 4:32 # "Little Deschutes" – 4:07 # "Silo Song" – 2:38 # "Spring Song" – 3:41

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hello I Must Be Going 2012 films 2012 romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films set in Connecticut Films shot in Connecticut American independent films 2012 independent films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Todd Louiso 2010s American films