'Remarkably Bright Creatures' review: Heartfelt and human

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The bestselling novel "Remarkably Bright Creatures" gets a cinematic adaptation for Netflix, courtesy of director Olivia Newman ("Where the Crawdads Sing") and star Sally Field. 

It tells the story of a friendship between two lonely people and one lonely octopus. Tova (Field) lives alone in a small Pacific Northwest town and works as the nighttime cleaner at the local aquarium. Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina) is the resident elderly octopus, who looks out from his tank at the humans that surround him with a particular mixture of wonder, confusion and disgust. But he loves Tova and she loves him. Cameron (Lewis Pullman) enters the picture when he drives into town in search of a job and something more.

Co-stars include Joan Chen, Kathy Baker and Colm Meaney, all of whom have been giving dependable performances for years.

MY SAY Anyone approaching this movie without having read the novel might have some skepticism. It sounds a bit like a fictional spin on the Oscar-winning documentary "My Octopus Teacher" with lots of misty-eyed sentimentality.

It's a credit to the underlying strength of the material that "Remarkably Bright Creatures" plays like anything but some sort of cheap, spiritualist retread. There's hardly a false moment to be found.

The picture finds its heart in the stories of these three sad, isolated beings, thrust together by circumstances or fate.

So much of that happens thanks to Field's unsurprisingly terrific performance; there aren't many actors who could perform opposite an octopus and imbue the work with so many heart-wrenching moments. That the octopus in question here is in fact computer-generated makes it all the more impressive.

Pullman, the son of Bill, matches his co-star beat for beat. There's so much about the feeling of being lost and forgotten in the world that he taps into quite ably, and that anyone who has ever felt downtrodden for a time will find relatable.

Marcellus ties it all together through his observations, conveyed with wisdom and grace by Molina, and in the ways in which he tries to help these people that he cares for so deeply. 

Newman, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Whittington, recognizes that the story above all is about three beings searching for a happy place that seems just out of reach. She keeps it built around that theme.

Marcellus dreams of returning to the ocean, to the peace and contentment of the bottom of the sea.

Tova remembers her husband and son, who died tragically, and sees remnants of their lives everywhere she looks.

After a childhood of being shuttled between different houses, Cameron lives in the camper van that his late, estranged mother once owned.

They're lost. They're adrift. But they find each other. And in the small moments of comfort and joy that grow between them, they find their way home.

BOTTOM LINE Wonderful acting and a touching story. What more could you need?