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After decades in the business, Gus Van Sant still feels like a new filmmaker, approaching each project with an energy and clarity of vision that makes even his less successful films worthy of consideration. Van Sant's empathy and lack of calculation keeps Restless from succumbing to terminal tweeness, but it's an awfully close c0
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After decades in the business, Gus Van Sant still feels like a new filmmaker, approaching each project with an energy and clarity of vision that makes even his less successful films worthy of consideration. Van Sant's empathy and lack of calculation keeps Restless from succumbing to terminal tweeness, but it's an awfully close call. Smushing together elements of both Harold and Maude and Love Story, the script follows mortality-obsessed teen Enoch (Henry Hopper, son of Dennis), who meets beautiful cancer patient Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) after crashing a funeral. As the two prepare for Annabel's last few weeks on Earth, Enoch's own reasons for carrying on are called into question. While both Wasikowska and Hopper do their best to flesh out their material, first-time screenwriter Jason Lew seems oddly reluctant to delve into the inner lives of his characters, focusing more on oddball emo curlicues (Hopper's best friend is the board game-loving ghost of a kamikaze pilot) than what really makes these two tick. Thankfully, Van Sant does what he can to diffuse the ethereal whimsy. Shooting in his adopted home of Portland, the director successfully evokes a feeling of magic realism, indulging the main characters in their flights of fancy while also ensuring that the reality of the situation lurks just outside the frame. Viewers with a low tolerance for preciousness may want to look elsewhere, but Restless definitely has its moments, particularly when it cuts through the vintage clothing and talk about fluffernutter sandwiches to hit a genuine vein of feeling. Rare is the director who can make an audience feel sympathy for an imaginary friend. --Andrew Wright
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