Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryo Kase,
Schuyler Fisk, Lusia Strus, Jane Adams, Paul Parson,
Thomas Lauderdale, Chin Han
Written by Jason Lew
Certification UK PG | US PG-13
Runtime 91 minutes
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Teenager Enoch (Hopper) spends his time playing Battleships with his friend Hiroshi. He is also, for reasons which become apparent later, a funeral crasher. At one such memorial service he encounters Annabel (Wasikowska), another teenager who sketches birds in her spare time and seems sympathetic to Enoch despite his decidedly odd behaviour. They strike up a friendship which soon develops into something deeper.
Van Sant returns to the big screen with this melancholy tale of teen romance. Unlike his Gerry, this has a light tone throughout and leans toward hope while addressing serious themes. As well as love, death and loss are the key talking points for the two teens, both of whom are in search of meaning to their irrevocably disrupted lives.
Wasikowska plays Annabel with a lot of warmth and shares some genuinely tender moments with her opposite number, Hopper. Henry is in fact the son of the late, great Dennis (to whom the film is dedicated) and once in a while you can see the old man's twinkle in Henry's eyes and smile. Hopper Jr is an engaging screen presence so it will be interesting to see how his career progresses.
Despite the subject matter, the script has its share of witty one-liners which help to give this bittersweet romantic drama a pleasant aftertaste. This is no classic but it's darn sight more palatable than most rom-coms and is a perfectly watchable indy outing from Van Sant.