CARRIE PILBY with Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne Worth a Watch

CARRIE PILBY (2016) film now on Amazon is not an amazing movie but it is not without its charms. Carrie (a wide eyed Bel Powley) is a 19 year old Harvard grad thanks to an IQ of 186. Of course, this high IQ is both a blessing and a curse. What's a widowed father (Gabriel Byrne) to do but matriculate his daughter into the IVY league since she's way ahead of all the adolescents her age. Well intentioned but not necessarily advantageous to a precocious girl who is really still a young girl pitted into an adult world which doesn't prepare her for a lecherous professor or peers who prefer someone their own age. Having graduated, Carrie finds herself alone in her NYC apartment without a job, friends or family. Her dad is in London where she was raised and she's left to navigate on her own. Well not entirely. Dad has hired his friend, a psychiatrist, Dr. Petrov (played by a steadfast Nathan Lane) to help guide her. Left on her own, Carrie would choose to stay at home and read. This is not a recipe for happiness. But with the kindly encouragement of Dr. Petrov and the job being as a proof reader she finds kindred spirits.  Carrie commences to navigate herself towards a fulfilling life. The movie is actually a lot better than it sounds. The quirky friends she meets at work are likable. So too is the handsome next door neighbor who plays a long winded instrument out on their fire escape. Bryce and Lane add their talents and finesse. This is an easily digestible, diverting film with a heroine whose tough facade belies a heart searching for connections.  Powley's performance is pitch perfect. She's engaging as a bumptious intellect. yet manages to carry off an underlying vulnerability without garnering pity. We see her as the 16 year old college girl who understandably fell prey to an ill-advised affair with her Lit professor and gain insight to her romantic reserves. Pilby's blazing blue eyes emote non-stop.  I was taken in by this film about an intellectual young lady whose emotional maturity is still mostly on par with her chronological age. This movie may not receive high honors but it does earn high above a passing grade. It's a sweet movie to pass the time.