Susan Sarandon as Marnie Minervini and J.K. Simmons as Zipper.Jaimie Trueblood
"The Meddler" sounds like a Batman villain, and just because the Susan Sarandon-played character isn't that, it doesn't mean she isn't formidable – and adorable and incorrigible. In Lorene Scafaria's crowd-pleasing bicoastal comedy, Sarandon is a well-meaning widow who fends off her grief and procrastinates in getting on with life by meddling in the lives of her daughter (Rose Byrne) and various pseudo-offspring. J.K. Simmons gently excels as a patient ex-cop, chicken-farming suitor. It's a sitcom-y, Sarandon-wrapped Mother's Day valentine.
Brad Wheeler