Restless Reviews

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Gus Van Sant's work, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, even though it was a decent watch,  I can’t say it really blow me away though. I guess, the main issue I had is that I already saw recently 2 other movies ('Now is Good' and 'The Fault in Our Stars') with exactly the same story,  about a young girl dying of cancer or whatever and how she falls in love. It is actually unfair to this movie since it was actually released before the other 2 but it didn't add much to the genre, I'm afraid. Still,  the directing was solid and both leads gave some pretty good performances. I was especially impressed by Mia Wasikowska.  It was already the 3rd movie starring her that I have seen recently and after 'Maps to the Stars' and 'Only Lovers Left Alive', she definitely displayed some skills here again. Coming to our main feature, I did like the characters and the mood provided but the whole thing still felt slightly generic to me. To conclude, even though it was nothing really great, it was still a decent romantic feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

the very deliberate sappiness completely ruined any real emotions for me.
just one of the million stories about "tragic" kids falling in love, not even an original take on one.

Some directors know exactly what makes me tick. Gus Van Sant is one of them. He specializes in unconventionality of the fresh and interesting variety, rather than for the sheer purpose of being artsy. Also, in each of his films, he does a seemingly effortless job at making transitions from light to dark material, and vice versa. Take, for example, his newest film, the achingly beautiful Restless, which is permeated by the inevitable sweetness of young love, yet it's all against the backdrop of a delightful dollop of dark humor. Van Sant has no interest in saying any of the things that have already been said dozens of times in other independent romantic dramas (and if you feel like hearing those things again, you can go watch Like Crazy, currently playing at the nearest indie theater). The stages that the two lovebirds in Restless go through as their romance develops are completely different than what we're used to seeing in other films, but the great thing is that this doesn't feel off-putting - one doesn't get the feeling of "Oh, please, two young people would never act this way around each other," but rather, one gets the feeling that this is how two quirky souls would go about connecting with each other if they were fortunate enough to have their paths cross. Add to that a hilariously nonchalant attitude towards the prospect of death, and you've got the perfect recipe for a nimble, original and thoroughly engrossing romantic drama.

We're not immediately told why, but Enoch (Henry Hopper) likes crashing funerals, despite not knowing the person who died or any of the other participants. One day, it looks like he's totally about to get caught in the act by a guy who's been watching him and noticing what he's doing. As soon as the guy starts questioning Enoch about his presence at the funeral, someone intervenes. It's Annabel (Mia Wasikowska), a girl who's right around Enoch's age, and who pretends to vouch for Enoch, claiming that he definitely knew the person who passed away. At that point, Annabel "introduces" Enoch to the guy who was getting ready to kick him out, and Enoch (who obviously decides to play along) wryly says: "Pleasure is all yours, I'm sure." You should be ready to continue hearing comments like that, because Enoch is the opposite of the standard-order male in a romantic drama who knows all the right, cute things to say in order to make the females in the audience swoon helplessly - he's quite the dark soul. Enoch and Annabel quickly start getting acquainted, and we're immediately informed that Annabel has a terminal disease, which serves as the tacit explanation for why she goes to funerals. But her attitude towards the prospect of death is very carefree and accepting, and Enoch is only happy to oblige by joking around about the situation, rather than moping and saying "Oh, no, no, I love you, I don't want you to die!".

Yes, this doesn't seem very realistic. But let me ask you this. Which do you prefer: yet another film in the long line of straight-edge, syrupy tearjerkers that feature one lovebird dying and the other lovebird suffering and grieving, which doesn't feel realistic anyway because it's too obvious that the film is manipulating us to make us shed tears, OR a movie that takes a refreshingly unorthodox view towards death and, in the process, offers off-the-wall hilarity of the best kind? If you've read my reviews in the past, I've taken jabs at films for being unrealistic... but I've only done it in cases of films that AIM to be realistic yet fail at it (I'm looking at you, Crazy Stupid Love). If a film is clearly not aiming for realism, then it's not something I'm gonna hold against it, and in fact, there are cases in which it's the right choice, as with Restless. Now, the crazy thing is that, as much as the attitudes towards death of these two characters may not seem in tune with reality, their romantic interactions are never short on authenticity. These are two people who obviously relish each other's wackiness, and I'm glad that the film is great enough to manifest their emotions to the point that I, as as viewer, was able to relish their wackiness just as much, not just because I was able to relate to it, but because it feels so tangible and organic to their personas. And, as you'll ultimately find, Enoch and Annabel's nonchalant and jokester-oriented attitude towards death isn't really that unrealistic. Since death is arguably the worst thing that can happen to you (directly or indirectly), it's not unheard of to use humor to deal with it. Enoch and Annabel both have their reasons for trying to assuage their situations with humor: Annabel has known for a while that she's gonna die, and she's accepted it, and Enoch's reasons are revealed later on in the proceedings, but they're just as understandable. Even the subplot involving Enoch's ostensible imaginary friend (which is the type of thing I'd normally pounce on as a flaw) works well, because it isn't over-used in the film - the romantic relationship retains its center stage. Also, the fact that the imaginary friend constantly beats Enoch at the games they play (Battleship, in particular) is an effective way of capturing Enoch's self-deprecation and inner demons.

I've stressed the comedic aspect of the film because there's no denying the truth: I haven't smiled more or laughed harder with any other film so far released this year. If having a dark and twisted sense of humor is a crime, I declare myself guilty as charged. The scene in which Enoch meets Annabel's mother will go down as one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in which a guy interacts with a parent of a girl he's dating. The line "Nothing like public transportation to set the mood" had me in stitches, and I hope it has the same effect on you - if it doesn't, then you'll know that Restless probably isn't your kind of film, and that's perfectly fine, but I fall decidedly in the group of people who find this sort of thing more than merely amusing. Later on, there's a scene in which Enoch and Annabel are at a morgue staring at the wall in which cadavers have been put away, and when they're caught, the two lovebirds' comments and reactions to the people who catch them are simply uproarious. There's a scene in Restless that I was watching with a sense of growing concern and disappointment, as it seemed like the movie was taking a drastic turn towards sentimentality and over-the-top tragedy. The line "Oh God!" made me cringe in pain at how falsely it was being delivered. But then... well... it turns out it wasn't what it looked like. :) And I sighed in joyful relief, as the film immediately veered back to its brilliantly dark tone.

It came as no surprise when I heard that Henry Hopper is the son of the late actor Dennis Hopper. This is one of those cases that would bolster the argument that solid acting skills are hereditary. What I find incredible is how easily young Hopper manages to make a character who has such twisted, nihilistic views towards life still be charming and uber-pleasant to watch and listen to. There's a moment in which Enoch serves as an intermediary in a conversation between Annabel and his imaginary friend, and Hopper is freaking terrific during this entire scene, not to mention hilarious. While I've only seen two of Mia Wasikowska's films, the fact that her character here is so clearly distinguishable from the one she played last year in The Kids Are All Right says oodles about her abilities. One problem that afflicts a lot of young actors is that, as good as they may be, it often feels like they play the same character in every film, because of getting typecast into a particular role (case in point, Amanda Seyfried, who's a decent actress, yet I can't help but feel like I'm watching the same person in every film she appears in). Wasikowska displays an ability to inhabit each discrete character she immerses herself in, and her work here makes me at least flirt with the idea of watching the otherwise unappealing version of Jane Eyre that was released earlier this year. Dramatically effective as she is, she's not far behind Hopper in the comedy department, particularly in the scene in which Annabel discusses the possibility of donating her body to "science" (haha) after she dies.

I'm not sure if comparisons to Harold and Maude are appropriate. Before I even go into that, you should be aware that, if I were forced to pick my favorite comedy of all time, I'd have to answer Harold and Maude, and perhaps that makes it easier to understand why I fell so in love with a film like Restless. Both films start out as being about a young guy who likes crashing funerals, and who meets a female who does the same for different reasons than him. But Harold and Maude is more about giving one person a reason to live and to learn to appreciate everything that has been given to him, whereas Restless is much more bleak, because it's strictly about two people coping with death in its different forms (whether it's dealing with the loss of a loved one, or dealing with one's own impending death). One thing that can't be denied, though, is that both films feature romances of the darkest variety, and I absolutely love them for that. I love them for finding humor in places that most movies would normally not dare to go, let alone use them to elicit laughs. I much prefer a film that does things that are seemingly awkward and inappropriate to tickle the funny bone, rather than a film that does things that are corny and manipulative to make me shed a tear - it's just a matter of taste. What ultimately makes me view Restless as an awesome work of cinema is that its quirkiness feels so organic to the characters and to the soul of the film. As much as I really liked this year's earlier Submarine (which also toyed with death-related issues and at times used them to garner humor), there were times at which that film's quirkiness felt a bit aggressive and in-your-face. Not so in Restless. The balance between sweet-natured romance and twisted, dark humor is way too good here to be dismissed, and I thank Van Sant for being someone I can always rely on to get that.