‘Eleanor the Great’ Review: Scarlett Johansson’s Directorial Debut Is an Unconvincing Crowd-Pleaser, With June Squibb Doing Brash Shtick

That someone would appropriate their best friend’s saga of survival is clearly an indefensible action. Yet in a strange way I think that “Eleanor the Great,” to be true to the audacity of that premise, should have sharpened the comedy of it more. Johansson, though, while she does a perfectly efficient job of directing, doesn’t hone the tone of her scenes. She keeps the whole thing earnest and rather neutral in a plot-driven way, with Squibb as her wild card.

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